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Cereals and bread from Italy

Pane di Altamura DOPpane di Altamura

Pane di Altamura is a protected durum wheat sourdough bread from the north-western Murgia in Apulia. Re-milled durum semolina is kneaded with 20 % lievito madre, 2 % sea salt and about 60 % water, rested and shaped in three stages, and baked about an hour at 250 °C into large loaves with a thick crust and a straw-yellow crumb.

Fully documentedCereals and bread3.7 hPDO (DOP), EC Regulation 1291/2003

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are the specification's dose per quintal (100 kg) of re-milled semolina.
Re-milled durum wheat semolina (semola rimacinata)100 kgMilled with metal roller pairs at about 300 rpm and no more than 40 °C[altamura-spec]
Lievito madre (natural sourdough)20 kg (20%)Built up with at least three refreshments of water and durum semolina[altamura-spec]
Sea salt2 kg (2%)[altamura-spec]
Water at 18 °CAbout 60 l (60%)Potable water from the local supply[altamura-spec]
Starterbackslop (lievito madre refreshed at least three times)

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.7 h

Start
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What changes: The mother dough is fed durum semolina and water at least three times

Step 1 of 7
Build up the lievito madre
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. plantarum
L. paracasei
L. casei
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: active lievito madre.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Pane di Altamura is a protected durum wheat sourdough bread from the north-western Murgia in Apulia. Re-milled durum semolina is kneaded with 20 % lievito madre, 2 % sea salt and about 60 % water, rested and shaped in three stages, and baked about an hour at 250 °C into large loaves with a thick crust and a straw-yellow crumb. Made in 7 steps over 3.7 h. The longest step, first rise under a thick cotton cloth, takes at least 1.5 h (Disciplinare di produzione della denominazion…). Salt is 2 % (Disciplinare di produzione della denominazion…). Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei and L. casei, the commonest lactic acid bacteria (88 % of 111 isolates) in sourdoughs used for Altamura bread and Levilactobacillus brevis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 1.5 hSet[altamura-spec]First rise under a thick cotton cloth
Temperature18 °CSet[altamura-spec]Knead semolina, lievito madre, salt and water
Salt2 %Set[altamura-spec]Knead semolina, lievito madre, salt and water

What makes this one different

Pane di Altamura is made only from re-milled durum wheat semolina grown and milled in five Murgia communes and leavened only with lievito madre. Its two shapes, the tall folded skuanète and the low cappidd d'prèvte, are part of the specification.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Skuanète (accavallata)The traditional tall, folded-over loaf with kissing marks on the sides.
  • A cappidd d'prèvteThe low loaf without kissing marks.
  • 2025 temporary ruleAfter the 2024 drought, durum wheat of any variety grown in the area could be used until 31 July 2025 instead of the 80 % share of the four named varieties.

Safety

The specification requires the oven to reach 250 °C and bakes the loaves 15 minutes with the oven mouth open and 45 minutes closed. The finished bread may hold no more than 33 % moisture.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Registered as a PDO by EC Regulation 1291/2003 of 18 July 2003. In 2004 Italy asked the Commission to drop the water-composition figures from the specification, since they were indicative values from the regional aqueduct.

  1. [altamura-spec] Disciplinare di produzione della denominazione di origine protetta "Pane di Altamura", as sent by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies to the European Commission in 2004 (eAmbrosia register, PDO-IT-0136)spec
  2. [altamura-temp2025] Italy (ICQRF) 2025, Communication of approval of a temporary amendment, PDO-IT-0136-TEMP01, Pane di Altamura, Ref. Ares(2025)2409347 (eAmbrosia register, European Commission)spec
  3. [ricciardi2005] Ricciardi A., Parente E., Piraino P., Paraggio M. and Romano P. 2005, Phenotypic characterization of lactic acid bacteria from sourdoughs for Altamura bread produced in Apulia (Southern Italy), International Journal of Food Microbiology 98(1):63–72 (abstract)paper
  4. [perricone2014] Perricone M., Bevilacqua A., Corbo M.R. and Sinigaglia M. 2014, Technological characterization and probiotic traits of yeasts isolated from Altamura sourdough to select promising microorganisms as functional starter cultures for cereal-based products, Food Microbiology 38:26–35 (abstract)paper