Tuscan bread is actually at the base of our culinary tradition. Bread cannot miss from any Tuscan (and Italian) table! I often enjoy preparing it, especially on special occasions.
I’ve heard really many stories from both my grandmothers and my mother Anna about how important the preparation of the bread was; at the time she was just a little girl, during the post war period.
My mother always tells me how incredibly delicious the bread prepared by her grandmother was; and from the enthusiastic way in which she speaks, I can only imagine how wonderful and tasty it really was. The bread was made even more savory as it was cooked in old wood ovens!
Many years have passed now, but she reminds very well that special moment of the week when she helped her grandmother to make the bread. I understand that was really an enjoyable and happy event!
Bread was prepared only once a week, but it was so good and genuine that it kept well for many days. Women worked all ingredients by hand on the madia or kneading trough; I’ve got one of these old and rustic piece of furniture at home, the same used by my great grandmother Elena:-)
Now I’ll show you the bread recipe I’ve learned from my mother. Please note that to have a good bread you need to use only high quality products, starting from the flour.
Ingredients:
- 1000 gr of flour (type 0)
- 600 gr of warm water
- 10 gr of salt
- 4 spoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 little spoon of sugar (it helps leavening)
- 14 gr of powder yeast
First of all you need to dissolve the yeast together with the warm water; until it is completely melt. Put the flour in another basin and add the water with the yeast little by little, then add all other ingredients and work the pastry on a table for at least 10 minutes.
Put the pastry in a covered basin and let it leaven for no less than 2 hours. Then divide the pastry in 2 or more parts and cook in the oven at 220 degrees for about 40 minutes.
The wonderful smell of your bread will pervade all your home! I love it 
