Bread is merely flour, water, yeast, and salt as the world is merely earth, water, fire, and air. These four elemental ingredients-- grain from the fields, water from rivers and mountain streams, leavening from the wild yeasts of the air, and salt from the sea-- have been combined since Roman days to make the breads of Italy. In a country where the family is the primary source of physical and emotional sustenance, bread celebrates the richest and simplest pleasures pleasures of daily living. It is the single inevitable presence at the table during all three meals of the day, for no Italian would contemplate a meal without bread.

Bread is such a basic part of life in Italy that every restaurant automatically sets it on the table and imposes a cover charge (coperto) to cover its cost. Almost every street in Italy's large and middle-sized cities seems to have at least one panificio (bakery) and paticceria and (pastry shop), and even tiny towns without bread ovens have a grocery store where bread is delivered warm in the mornings. It is calculated that Italians eat half a pound of bread a day, the highest consumption in all of Europe, a statistic that translates to 4.5 billion pounds of bread a year.

Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that Italians express many of their most intensely felt sentiments through sayings and proverbs that use bread as their common metaphor.

Buono come il pane--As good as bread (said of a big-hearted, down-to-earth, person)

Senze il pane tutto diventa orfano--Without bread, everyone is an orphan.

I miei parenti son i soldi in tasca e il pane nella casa--My family is money in my pocket and breat at home...

...The old and honorable baking tradition, with its roots that reach back into the Roman past, changed with the advent of high speed machinery, but things really took a turn for the worst in the 1950s and 1960s, when huge machines were introduced that mixed and kneaded practically at the speed of light and produced cottony breads and bland grissini. To many people they were a denial of the art of the Italian baker, which was nourished by an agrarian past and by a passionate attachment to local ingredients and customs. The counterrevolution of the past several years is again changing the face of baking. It is not that industrial methods have been banished, but that the conformity and lack of imagination connected with them are being challenged by artisan bakers. These men (and a tiny number of women) have touched a profoundly sensitive nerve in Italians who remember the true taste of breads, pizzas, focacce, and sweets. They are restoring a real taste to bread, and bringing back a tradition that offers the best of genuine fragrant tastes that have given pleasure to Italians for centuries.

For description & pricing click here.

Winner of the IACP and James Beard Awards! It is celebratory sweet holiday breads dense with fat raisins, toasted nuts and candied fruit peels. It is "new wave" breads, recently invented by artisan bakers and studded with roasted peppers, sun. dried tomatoes and salty olive paste. It is imaginative multi-grain breads and rolls with tastes and shapes that vary dramatically from region to region.

Recipes for the breads of all these regions, for the comforting rustic soups and salads and appetizers based on them, for breadsticks and rolls, pizza and focaccia, for holiday specialties, for pastries, cookies, cornetti and nut tortes, fruit tarts, cheesecakes and spice cakes. More...

For sample recipes, click here.

Amaretti II
Macaroons from Piedmont

Unlike the classic amaretti from Saronno, these Piedmontese macaroons are soft and slightly chewy and taste intensely of almonds.

Makes 20 macaroons

• 1 1/4 cups (200 grains) blanched almonds
• 1 cup (200 grams) superfine sugar
• 3 to 4 tablespoons egg whites
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• Confectioners' sugar

Grind the almonds to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle or in a nut grinder or food processor fitted with a steel blade. (If using a food processor, add 2 tablespoons of the sugar.) Mix the ground nuts and superfine sugar in a mixing bowl. Add 3 tablespoons egg whites and the almond extract, and mix until the dough is soft enough to be piped from a pastry bag but stiff enough to hold its shape. Mix in the last tablespoon egg white, a bit at a time, if needed.

Shaping. Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe 2 1/2-inch-wide rounds 1 1/2 inches apart on buttered or parchment-lined baking sheets and flatten them a bit. Sift a little confectioners' sugar over the tops and let stand at room temperature 1 to 2 hours.

Baking. Heat the oven to 300° F. Bake until very light tan, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on racks. Store in airtight containers.

Copyright © 1985 by Carol Field. Reprinted from The Italian Baker with permission from William Morrow Cookbooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Torta Dumont
Chocolate-Nut Latticed Tart from Venice

"But where did this wonderful chocolate nut tart get its name?" I asked the Venetian baker, for Dumont scarcely sounds Italian. As it turns out, it is French, or the Venetian fantasy of a country dessert from the mountains of France. I suspect that it acquired a 1ittle city sophistication once it came to Venice, where a bit of enchantment is to to be expected.

Makes one 8-inch tart; 6 to 8 servings

• 2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon (240 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• l/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams) sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup (75 grams) blanched almonds
• l/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup less 1 tablespoon (90 grams) all-purpose or pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 8-inch unbaked tart shell with 2 ounces dough reserved for lattice
  [Pasta Frolla I Tart Dough recipe is below]

Using the whisk if you have one, cream the butter and sugar in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Grind the almonds and cocoa to a fine powder in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Stir the almond mixture and the lemon zest into the butter mixture by hand.

Copyright © 1985 by Carol Field. Reprinted from The Italian Baker with permission from William Morrow Cookbooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Pasta Frolla I

Enough for three 8-inch tarts; two or three 9- or 10-inch tarts, depending on the thickness; one two-crust or two latticed 9- or 10-inch tarts; one 11 X 8-inch tart, with or without lattice; or ten to fifteen 3 1/2-inch tartlets. In some cases you may have a bit of dough left over, but you can always use the extra to make a few tartlets or cookies...

Makes 1 1/2 pounds (680 grams) dough

• 2 1/4 cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour
• l/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 3/4 sticks (200 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature and malleable
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or grated
• zest of 1 lemon

BY HAND
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and stir to mix. Cut the butter into small pieces and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Slowly stir in first the egg and then the egg yolk, mixing thoroughly. Then stir in the vanilla and lemon juice. Gather the dough together and knead it roughly and briefly on a lightly floured surface just until the dough comes together.

BY MIXER
Cream the butter and the sugar in a mixer bowl with the paddle until pale and creamy. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and lemon juice, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together and is consistent but still soft. Be careful not to overmix or the pastry will be tough.

BY PROCESSOR
Laying dough into baking pan
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Cut the butter, which must be cold, into small chunks and scatter over the flour. Process with 4 to 6 pulses until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and lemon juice. With the machine running, pour the egg mixture through the feed tube and process just until the dough comes together on top of the blade. Do not process until it gathers into a ball or the pastry will be tough. Knead the dough very briefly on a lightly floured surface just until it is no longer sticky.

At this point you may pat the dough into place in a buttered tart pan and bake it immediately after chilling. Otherwise, divide it into thirds or halves, depending on the size of the tart you are planning, or flatten the whole amount into a 4- to 5-inch disk.

Chilling. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate at least 1 hour but no longer than 1 day.

Shaping. Let the dough stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes before rolling it out. Knead the dough briefly on a lightly floured surface to loosen it and make it supple enough for shaping. Roll the dough out 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick with a rolling pin and ease the dough into a lightly buttered pan. Trim the edge by running the rolling pin or a dough scraper over the edge of the pan to cut the dough neatly and then tidy the edge with your fingers.

For one 11 X 8-inch tart shell, use 1 pound (450 grams, 2/3 recipe) dough and roll into a rectangle. Line a buttered 11 x 8-inch tart pan with the dough.

For one 9- or 10-inch tart shell, use 9 to 10 ounces (250 to 300 grams) dough and roll into a circle. Line a buttered 9- or 10-inch tart pan with the dough.

For one 8-inch tart shell, use 8 ounces (225 grams, 1/3 recipe)...

...For one deep 8- or 9-inch tart shell, use 12 ounces (340 grams, 1/2 recipe) dough. Proceed as directed for other tart shells. If you find it difficult to keep the dough from sliding down the side of the pan while baking, press the dough firmly against the springform sides with the back of a fork after 7 minutes; bake until lightly golden, 5 to 8 minutes longer, pressing the dough against the side of the pan two more times or as needed.

For latticed tarts, use two-thirds of the dough specified for each shell to line the pan. Roll a 1/2-inch-thick rope of dough between your hands and smooth it onto the upper edge of the bottom crust, so that the edge is substantial enough for the lattice to be attached later. Partially bake the shell, if necessary, and fill. Roll out the remaining dough 3/8 inch thick and cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips with a straight edge and a sharp knife or ravioli cutter. Arrange the strips in a diagonal lattice over the filling, trim, and press onto the edges, pinching the strips lightly onto the tart shell. Bake as directed in the tart recipe.

Storage. Store the remaining unrolled dough, including all scraps which may be used again, in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 days or the freezer up to 1 month. Let frozen dough thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before rolling it out.

Resting. Refrigerate the dough-lined pan for 20 to 30 minutes to reduce shrinking when the pastry is baked.

Baking. Heat the oven to 350° F.

For partially baked shells: Line each shell with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until set, 12 to 15 minutes for large shells... Remove the foil and weights and let cool 5 to 10 minutes. Place the tart pan on top of a smaller can, such as a coffee can for large tart shells, and gently release the side of the pan from the baked tart crust. Let cool completely on a rack.

For an 11 X 8-inch partially baked shell, bake with the weights for 8 to 10 minutes; remove the foil and weights and bake 5 minutes longer; then reduce the heat to 325° F and bake until golden, 5 to 7 minutes longer.

For fully baked shells: Line each shell with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until the dough is no longer shiny, about 12 to 15 minutes; remove the foil and weights, prick the bottom of the dough, and bake until fully set and golden, about 10 to 13 miinutes longer. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes. Place the tart pan on top of a smaller can, such as a coffee can for large tart shells, and gently release the side of the baked tart crust. Let completely on a rack before filling.

Other proportion. You can cut the recipe in half by dividing all the ingredients except the eggs in half. Use 2 egg yolks if you are making the dough by hand or by mixer, but use 1 whole egg if you are using a food processor.

Copyright © 1985 by Carol Field. Reprinted from The Italian Baker with permission HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

About Carol Field

Carol Field is the author of four cookbooks, In Nonna's Kitchen, ia, Celebrating Italy, and The Italian Baker, as well as The Hill Towns of Italy and Mangoes and Quince, a novel. She has won two IACP Cookook Book Awards, a James Beard Award, and the Gold Medal for Cookbooks at the World Media Awards in Australia. She lives in San Francisco with her architect husband and continues to travel back and forth to Italy.

Also by Carol Field:

Hardcover Paperback

Paperback

Paperback

Hardcover Paperback