Pane ticinese
A soft white bread of Ticino, formed as attached loaves.
Pane ticinese is a white bread from the Swiss canton of Ticino, also found elsewhere in Switzerland as Tessinerbrot or pain tessinois. It is distinguished by its sequential form of small attached loaves meant to be broken off by hand, and by the addition of oil to the dough, which gives it a notably soft texture. In Ticino it is known by local names such as pane riga, reale, or lireta.
Quick Facts
- Country
- Switzerland
- Region
- Ticino
- Main ingredients
- White flour
- water
- biga
- salt
- oil
Facts from the source article.
History
Until the early 20th century, pane ticinese and other white breads were luxury foods beyond the means of most Ticinesi, who typically ate bread made from rye or chestnut flour. The 1930s Atlas of Swiss Folklore describes the bread's Reihenform, or sequential form, composed of small attached loaves meant to be broken off by hand; one local dialect name, riia pan, meaning "bread in a line," reflects this shape. This form originated in Italy, where a similar bread appears in a 1584 painting by Annibale Carracci. At that time, a whole loaf weighed 1 kilogram and consisted of eight loaves, sold whole or in fractions produced by breaking off individual loaves. The bread gained popularity in the rest of Switzerland during the 1950s through the Swiss Bakers' Association, whose professional school at Richemont in Lucerne developed specialty breads based on each canton's baking traditions.
Preparation
The dough is made from water, white flour, biga (a mixture of flour, yeast, and water), salt, and in the contemporary recipe, some oil such as olive oil. After kneading, the dough is divided into round pieces of about 2 kg, left to rise briefly, then re-kneaded, flattened, and shaped by hand into small oval michette about 10 cm long, which are attached to form a complete loaf. The loaves are brushed with egg, allowed to rise until doubled in volume, then baked at 190 °C for 20 to 25 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
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