Altamura Dop is a traditional bread product from the zone of the Murgia Altamura in the province of Bari, Apulia.

To get an idea as to how long and how much this bread has been part of the local food culture, the latin poet Orazio in the 37 BC was hailing it the best bread he had ever eaten.

For centuries in local agricultural society each family used to prepare a large dough of bread at home.

They would then take it to a public oven or 'forno a legna' where it would cook with others made by families from the rest of the village.

To avoid confusion the baker would mark each piece of bread with the name of its owner.

When baked each family knew which loaf was their's.

Although it is more romantic to think that the baker would call out the names one by one as he distributed the finished product.

The main characteristic of Altamura bread is its shelf life. It can last one or even two weeks.

In the past it was necessary to guarantee food for the field workers of the ‘Murgie’. Such was the nature of the bread that the weekly diet consisted of mainly bread, olive oil and water.

Altamura bread is made in 5 steps which makes it quite unique in Italy.

They are 'impastamento', 'formatura', 'lievitazione', 'modellatura' & 'cottura nel forno a legna'.