Food - Drink

The Historic Reason Some Bread In Central Italy

Is Unsalted

By RYAN CASHMAN

Almost all of Central Italy, which includes Tuscany, Umbria, parts of Lazio, and Le Marche, exclude salt from their bread-making process. There are numerous theories that explain this phenomenon and these tales range from the epic and poetic to the mundane and obvious.

One popular story amongst locals is that Perugians stopped using salt in their bread in 1540 as a way to defy Pope Paul III after he increased taxes on salt astronomically. However, this story has been contested, due to, in part, the fact that Florentines who were not subject to the tax didn’t salt their bread either.

According to The Florentine, the reasoning is a subject of manners as adding salt to the bread would be an insult to the food and the chef who made it. There is no definitive answer as to how Central Italy's bread came to be unsalted, and perhaps, the simple answer could just be that the bread is already salty enough already.

Read More

14 Foods And Wines You Have To Try In Puglia, Italy

20 Italian Dishes You Need To Try At Least Once

Healthy Bread Brands You Can Find In Any Grocery Store