When the typical Tuscan bread comes under discussion, it’s hard not to cite the phrase “You shall discover how the bread of others tastes of salt” from the Divine Comedy, through which Dante emphasizes his distaste for the salted version.
Even though unsalted bread is undoubtedly one of the most typical elements of Tuscan cuisine, its origin has yet to find a clear explanation. There are many theories and all are equally credible but unfortunately there are no reliable sources.
The most famous story dates back to the ages of the independent states, when Florence was constantly fighting with Pisa. During one of the numerous wars between the two cities, Pisa decided to block the sale of salt to Florence to create trouble for its adversary: in those times, salt was the main food preservative as well as a condiment. The Florentines did not let this get the better of them, and forged ahead by baking bread without the salt.
Other stories claim that unsalted bread originated from the medieval fiscal policies of Pisa toward the Florentines. Pisa monopolized the sale of salt in Tuscany and therefore could impose taxes and duties whenever and however they liked; they even raised them so much that the citizens of the Republic of Florence finally chose to go without! This theory is supported by the fact that in Lucca and Massa Carrara, who both had their own ports and did not purchase their salt from Pisa, produced bread with salt. Perhaps that explains why the phrase “better to have a death in the house than a Pisan on the doorstep” is still pronounced in most parts of Tuscany!
A third theory suggests that unsalted bread didn’t originate from the political disputes of the time, but rather from the abundant use of spices in Tuscan cuisine; for example, the finocchiona salami, the Peposo dell’Impruneta meat dish and the Tuscan prosciutto, to name the most reknown. They are all strong flavour foods with a decided taste that would decidedly be overwhelmed if paired with normal salted bread. Unsalted bread exalts the taste of these dishes.
All three theories could be true, and there is no proof or indication of which could be true, since taxes on salt no longer exist. Unsalted bread is such a deep part of Tuscan cuisine that if Dante came back to life today, he would just need to cross the Versilia river to say “how salty is the bread of others”.
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