The World That Was - Taralli Bread

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was!

Today, I'll be taking a look at a recipe from the Heel of Italy, also known as Magna Graecia (due to the intensity of Greek colonies here from the 8th century BC). I’ll be making some small bread-rings, called taralli. They're still made today, albeit in a different way. This recipe has been adapted from the Tavola Mediterranea, so I suggest you check them out!

In any case, let's take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above!

Ingredients

2 cups wholegrain flour

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp white wine (or white wine vinegar)

1 tbsp fennel seeds

Method

1 - Make the Dough

To begin with, we need to make a dough. Do this by pouring two cups of flour into a bowl, followed by the fennel seeds. Whisk these together just so they're combined. You can add less fennel here if you want a milder final product.

Next, pour in a half cup of water, your two tablespoons of olive oil, and your two tablespoons of white wine. Cheap wine in antiquity would likely have been similar to modern white wine, but white wine vinegar would work well here as a substitute. Use a wooden spoon to mix this until everything is very well combined. If your dough is looking a little wet, add a few pinches of flour to even it out. If it's too dry, add a splash of water.

When your dough is done, leave it to rest in the bowl for about a half hour - or up to an hour. This is to let everything hydrate, and is dependant on how hot or cold your room is.

2 - Work the Dough

When your dough is well-rested, something I can never relate to, tip it out of your bowl and onto your worksurface. You don't necessarily need to flour your surface to stop the dough from sticking too much, due to it’s oil content. Knead this a few times and getting it into a round shape. Cut this in half, and then cut these halves in half. Taralli are normally very small, but I made mine into slightly larger hand-sized loaves. But I'll be shaping them in the same way taralli are traditionally made.

3 - Form the Dough

Work one of your dough quarters into a ball. Then, start rolling this out into a tube, until it's about as thick as your thumb. Or thinner, if you're going for smaller taralli. In any case, roll it out to your desired thickness, before taking a section of it, and curling it around your thumb or finger. Press the two ends of the dough tube together, and set aside on a baking sheet.

Again, I'm only making eight large taralli. But you can keep doing this until you have no remaining dough. Place your sheet into the centre of an oven preheated to 200 °C / 400 °F. Leave this to cook for about 40 minutes, or until they turn brown.

Take them out of the oven when they're done, and leave them to cools slightly before digging in. These pair very well with dried figs and sheep's cheese (or other soft cheeses). The origins for taralli appear to be votive offerings for deities, in the form of small rings. Gifts of bread would have been a simple way of venerating the Gods in antiquity, as everyone would have had bread (if there wasn't a famine or something anyway). The ritual act of giving bread is mirrored in other ancient societies, and is a simple way of connecting populations in a simple way.

Modern taralli from the South of Italy have a different method of preparation, they are first boiled, before being baked. This produces a much more crisp crust and a softer interior than this method.