Italian Ciabatta Was Invented To Compete With The French Baguette (2024)

Janelle Alberts

·2 min read

It's difficult to picture the scene in which ciabatta bread was invented. Only a few decades ago, four-time rally racing champion Arnaldo Cavallari developed a new bread recipe that eventually became ciabatta. Cavallari labored over the proofing time and hydrationfor weeks,fueled by a singular bone of contention: He'd had it with his fellow Italians going gaga for the French baguette.

The son of miller parents, Cavallari was wrapping up an illustrious racing career in the early 1980s. He returned to his hometown of Adria in northern Italy, where his family owned a flour mill. By this time, the French baguette had long gained in popularity during its century-plus lifespan, winning over bread lovers with a simple yeast, flour, water, and salt recipe. In 1982, Cavallari enlisted two flour expert bakers to join him in developing a staple Italian loaf that would give the French baguette a run for its money.

His team knew the capabilities of what flour could handle in terms of hydration, which was imperative since Cavallari's ciabatta was going to push the limits of using a very wet dough. Cavallari used olive oil to keep the dough elastic enough to stretch without tearing while delivering a chewy, open-crumb loaf of bread that immediately caught on with local restaurants and bakeries. Everyone loved it. By 1985, ciabatta loaves were selling in Marks & Spencer, and within about a decade, Ciabatta Italiana was licensed and produced in 11 countries.

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What's The Difference Between Italian Ciabatta And The French Baguette

Italian Ciabatta Was Invented To Compete With The French Baguette (2)

The difference between the French baguette and Italian ciabatta starts with the simple ingredients each has at its core. Both use flour, water, yeast, and salt, but ciabatta uses a much higher hydration dough andolive oil to ensure elasticity. The breads look completely different in shape and are named after the appearance of their loaves. Baguette is French for "wand" or "baton," and ciabatta is Italian for "slipper."

"Ciabatta is not an elegant slipper, but the kind of old slipper you slouch around in," Italian cookbook author Jean Salvadore told The New York Times in 1992, around the time that ciabatta bread was making its New York debut. That underscores a major difference between the breads.

Ciabatta does present like a rustic, historic bread nonetheless, and its inventor planned it that way. "It reminds people of the older breads," Arnaldo Cavallari told The Guardian, describing his loaf as the "taste of an old-fashioned bread." The texture of ciabatta is chewy yet light and fluffy, with all its extra open-crumb air holes. By contrast, a French baguette, while airy, has small holes and a crisp crust.

Read the original article on Mashed.

Italian Ciabatta Was Invented To Compete With The French Baguette (2024)

FAQs

Italian Ciabatta Was Invented To Compete With The French Baguette? ›

Ciabatta is an Italian bread that was first produced back in 1982 by Arnaldo Cavallari. Cavallari was a miller and baker near Venice. During this time the French Baguettes were very popular and bakeries wanted to develop a product that would be able to compete with a baguette.

Why was ciabatta invented? ›

Ciabatta in Italian means “Slipper” due to the shape of the bread resembling one. Ciabatta is a white bread that stems from a baker in Rovigo, Veneto, Italy. The Ciabatta was invented in 1982 due to an overwhelming affinity towards french baguettes, which had taken Europe by storm.

What is the difference between ciabatta and French baguette? ›

"It reminds people of the older breads," Arnaldo Cavallari told The Guardian, describing his loaf as the "taste of an old-fashioned bread." The texture of ciabatta is chewy yet light and fluffy, with all its extra open-crumb air holes. By contrast, a French baguette, while airy, has small holes and a crisp crust.

Is ciabatta bread similar to French bread? ›

Ciabatta bread was developed as a response to the French baguette, which was gaining popularity in Italy. Ciabatta has a similarly crunchy exterior to a baguette, but with a more open structured interior because ciabatta dough has a higher water content than baguette dough.

When were French baguettes invented? ›

Although it seems like the quintessential French product, the baguette was said to have been invented by Vienna-born baker August Zang in 1839. Zang put in place France's steam oven, making it possible to produce bread with a brittle crust yet fluffy interior.

What is a fun fact about ciabatta? ›

The slipper

One of the bakers noticed that the bread hadn't risen very high, creating a slipper shape. He suggested to Arnaldo that the bread be named 'ciabatta', meaning 'slipper' in English.

What is a ciabatta baguette? ›

'slipper') is an Italian white bread created in 1982 by a baker in Adria, province of Rovigo, Veneto, in response to the popularity of French baguettes. Ciabatta is somewhat elongated, broad, and flat, and is baked in many variations, although unique for its alveolar holes.

What is the Italian version of a baguette? ›

Filone. Another Tuscan bread on the list, the filone is similar to the famous French baguette in shape. Its name comes from the word filo which means line – referring to the shape of the bread. Made with flour, olive oil, yeast, water, and salt, filone has a hard crispy crust and a light airy crumb inside.

What is the difference between Italian bread and French baguette? ›

French bread usually combines flour, water, yeast, and salt, and is free of fat. Italian bread tends to include olive oil, herbs, and milk that add to its distinctive taste and texture.

What bread is closest to a baguette? ›

Ficelle. Ficelle means “string” in French, and it refers to the extra-skinny look of this bread. It's basically a skinny baguette, and it boasts the same chewy texture and firm crust.

Which is healthier, ciabatta or sourdough? ›

Sourdough bread is healthier than traditional ciabatta bread. Ciabatta bread is a popular type of Italian bread, and therefore, is less nutritious than sourdough bread due to the leavening agent used. However, if you are searching for a healthier ciabatta bread, you can choose one made with sourdough or whole grains.

What bread is most similar to ciabatta? ›

Ciriola. These small rolls are similar to ciabatta in the sense that they're crusty on the outside and tender on the inside.

What country has the best bread? ›

Iceland. Iceland is considered one of the countries with the best bread in the world, much of which can be attributed to the unique methods it employs for its bread-making. The Icelandic rye bread is high in sugar and is baked underground using bubbling lava sand as the heat source.

What is the baguette rule in France? ›

The French bread law

The law states that traditional baguettes have to be made on the premises they're sold and can only be made with four ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. They can't be frozen at any stage or contain additives or preservatives, which also means they go stale within 24 hours.

Why are French baguettes so good? ›

In France, bakers pay careful attention to where their flour is made and which grains are used in the milling process. The result is usually softer, heartier, and tastier bread than can be found in other parts of the world. French flour tends to be made with a lower ash content than the flour from other countries.

What is French bread called in France? ›

Baguette – a long, thin type of bread of French origin. The "baguette de tradition française" is made from wheat flour, water, yeast, and common salt.

What is the science behind ciabatta bread? ›

The theory goes that this rustic bread was the result of accidentally adding too much water to a dough and then continuing the baking process anyway. The final result was a flat and long baked good with an open crumb cell structure, named ciabatta.

Is ciabatta bread healthier than white bread? ›

Is ciabatta healthier than bread? A. Ciabatta bread is relatively high in carbohydrates than other bread forms. However, it has adequate fibre, sugar, protein, and essential vitamins for a healthy diet.

How is ciabatta different from other breads? ›

Ciabatta bread is characterised by its crusty finish, and big holes inside the dough, which is often achieved by a long, slow rise, and high hydration.

How was twisted bread invented? ›

It was thought that in some ancient societies if a married man died, it was the duty of his wife to follow him to the grave and be buried at his side. Later, the actual wife was replaced with a braid of her hair, which eventually became a loaf of braided bread.

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