Altamura bread

Deepening:

History
Traditional working progress
Traditional shapes
DOP denomination

The DOP

Documents:
Gazzetta Ufficiale (jpg) 1 - 2 - 3
GUCE italian (formato pdf)
GUCE english (formato pdf)
GUCE deutsch (formato pdf

The bread of Altamura, obtained using durum wheat re-milled semolina, is going to obtain by the european Parliamentary Committee the DOP- Denomination of Protected Origin.

This very important quality recognition is based on the characteristics of the raw material, the durum wheat re-milled semolina.

The Union for the Protection of the bread of Altamura starts in 1996 the administrative procedure for this recognition, availing itself of the help of dr. Michele Saponaro, of prof. Giovanni Battista Quaglia, of prof. Ferdinando Mirizzi and of dr Michele Pellegrino.

The Regulation of production of the DOP "bread of Altamura" constitutes the fundamental document for the recognition. It was gazetted by the European Union and translated into the 11 languages of the European countries.

The Regulation determines the varieties of durum wheat to be used during the milling process, in order to obtain that particular kind of durum wheat re-milled semolina used for the "bread of Altamura". These varieties are: appulo, arcangelo, duilio, simeto (present at least for 80 %).

Thanks to both the carachteristics of these varieties and the pedologycal and the climatic conditions of the productive territory, the "re-milled semolina" has some chemical-physical carachteristics, that together with the particular way of milling, represent the secret of the "bread of Altamura" but also of other industrial kind of bread: "ciabatta", "baguette", "rosetta", "pan carrè", "toast bread".

The milling process represents an other particularity, because in Altamura zone the milling plants are equipped with sets of steel cylinders working at different, but progressively similar, speeds. They turn at around 300 revolutions per minute, at an operating temperature of not more than 40°C.

Such a structure causes, through the rubbing, the break in the majority of the cells of the aleurone layer of the kernels, imbueing in this way the durum wheat re-milled semolina with the precious germ oil. As Durum Italia with its milling plants Mininni and Capriati & Loiudice of Altamura is situated in the productive territory located by the Regulation, produces "fine hard wheat semolina" for the "bread of Altamura DOP".

Documents:
Gazzetta Ufficiale (jpg) 1 - 2 - 3
GUCE italian (formato pdf)
GUCE english (formato pdf)
GUCE deutsch (formato pdf