Bread the bread of the executioner

18 May 2023

The bread in bauletto (or pancarré) is a type of bread generally used for the preparation of toast, remarkably soft, which also lends itself very well to the preparation of sandwiches.

It seems to have been born in Turin in the nineteenth century, there is no evidence that attests to an antecedent presence in France: the term pancarré (carré, from French, square) is used in fact in Italy but absolutely unknown beyond the Alps.

It is said that its Turin origin can be traced back to an attempt to spite the executioner: the inhabitants of the time could not bear the fact of living near a man who killed people, despite this was a service required when the death penalty was still in force.

Among the rudeness that the people used to reserve for the executioner there was that of giving him the bread upside down (from this comes the popular tradition of never putting the bread upside down at the table, because it is said to bring bad luck).

The administrators of the time issued an ordinance strongly forbidding that practice, once the executioner turned to them strongly offended by the behavior of the bakers of the city.

To circumvent the decision of the city authorities, the bakers invented a new type of bread having the shape of a brick, that is, the same both below and above, in order to be served upside down to the executioner without the latter being able to complain to the authorities.

Legends or stories aside, to obtain a quality bread it is necessary a compliant leavening that guarantees the correct thermo-hygrometric parameters at every point of the cell, a homogeneous filtered cooling and, often, a clean room to slice it guaranteeing a correct shelf life.

In short, you can also turn to Standard Tech to spite the executioner!