Panigacci are a speciality bread from Podenzana in the Lunigiana, an area set within an isolated valley along the border of Liguria and Tuscany. It is a type of round bread, unleavened, cooked in the special traditional ways using special equipment. They can have a soft or crunchy texture and are thin and well cooked. They are then dunked in sauces, mopping them up and served with toppings called salumi, which are cured meats and cheeses. You can now buy pre-packaged panigacci in supermarkets but the best way to eat them is when they've been freshly made in front of you. Typically eaten as a snacking food or street food, they are a very popular local dish that you need to try.
Find a luxury villa in Tuscany and try panigacci either in its home town of Podenzana or anywhere in Tuscany, as it has become so popular elsewhere.
Panigacci is quite an ancient type of bread with a history that stretches far back in time. Its origins go back to the ancient Lungiana habit of cooking various dishes inside terracotta “testi” – heated dishes used for cooking – though the bread did not actually become especially popular until during the Middle Ages. The recipe is certainly much older than this medieval popularity as there are records of the ancient population of Apuani, who lived in Lunigiana between 200 and 100 BC cooking flour kneadings inside testi.
Panigacci is quite an ancient type of bread with a history that stretches far back in time. Its origins go back to the ancient Lungiana habit of cooking various dishes inside terracotta “testi” – heated dishes used for cooking – though the bread did not actually become especially popular until during the Middle Ages. The recipe is certainly much older than this medieval popularity as there are records of the ancient population of Apuani, who lived in Lunigiana between 200 and 100 BC cooking flour kneadings inside testi.
In its home-town of Podenzana, a group of restaurant owners have banded together to preserve this tradition and to make sure that the antique recipe for this simple bread stays the same. The town has an especially close relationship with, and fondness for, the dish as during WWII, when the Germans destroyed the bridge that connected the town to the rest of area, local inhabitants managed to survive only by eating panigacci made from acorn and chestnut flour.
Panigacci are made from a flour batter. Water and salt is strained in the red-hot testi and the dough is then placed on plates which are stacked in the fire. This gives the dish a particular smell and taste.
Panigacci should be eaten with either pesto, salami or soft cheese like stracchino and some restaurants in Lunigiana serve a sweet variety which is presented warm and covered with chocolate spread at the end of the meal. From August 4-9 and 13-16 there is even a festival dedicated to the dish which takes place in Podenzana and is called the Sagra del Panigaccio.
Next time you find yourself in Tuscany, especially if you are near their birthplace, you must try this speciality. Sweet or savoury, it is a real treat and unique to the area!
Panigacci are made from a flour batter. Water and salt is strained in the red-hot testi and the dough is then placed on plates which are stacked in the fire. This gives the dish a particular smell and taste.
Panigacci should be eaten with either pesto, salami or soft cheese like stracchino and some restaurants in Lunigiana serve a sweet variety which is presented warm and covered with chocolate spread at the end of the meal. From August 4-9 and 13-16 there is even a festival dedicated to the dish which takes place in Podenzana and is called the Sagra del Panigaccio.
Next time you find yourself in Tuscany, especially if you are near their birthplace, you must try this speciality. Sweet or savoury, it is a real treat and unique to the area!
Photo credits
picture 1: J.P.Lon / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 2: William Domenichini / CC BY-SA 3.0
picture 1: J.P.Lon / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 2: William Domenichini / CC BY-SA 3.0
