Perched on a mountaintop in the middle of a national park, Monte Sant’Angelo is a pilgrim destination with several unique foodie items.
Foodie Monte Sant’Angelo
Pane di Monte Sant’Angelo
One of the most unique breads in all of Italy is Pane di Monte Sant’Angelo. These comically large loaves can weigh up to 12 kilos (26.5 pounds) or more!
The sourdough Pane di Monte Sant’Angelo is baked in ovens outfitted with refractory stone chambers, making them incredibly durable, which is important since the ovens are only turned off on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The stone in the oven retains heat, allowing for even cooking temperatures during the very long baking times.
The crust of the Pane di Monte Sant’Angelo is brown and crispy while inside, the bread has a nice, compact crumb. Some bakers add potato to the dough to make the bread even softer.
After baking, the bread is set vertically to allow moisture to escape. It’s almost like they’re curing the bread. This allows the giant loaves to last a long time, which is good since it would take an army to devour a 12 kilo loaf in a single day.
Pane di Monte Sant’Angelo is often displayed on hooks in bakeries. Or, giant loaves are displayed outside the bakery on the street; a sort of Pane di Monte Sant’Angelo advertisement.
If you don’t want a loaf that will take up the entire back seat of your car, bakers often make smaller loaves these days, ranging in size from one kilo to four kilos, still a substantial amount of bread.
I like the Pane di Monte Sant’Angelo at Panetteria Ricucci and Il Forno Moretti 1960 Monte Sant’Angelo.
With all that bread, there’s bound to be some leftover. Puglia has a type of Pancotto soup where vegetables are cooked in a broth and stale Pane di Monte Sant’Angelo and herbs are added.
Another dish takes vegetables like eggplant and zucchini, hollows them out and stuffs them with a mixture of diced vegetables and/or meat with breadcrumbs made from Pane di Monte Sant’Angelo.
Read the entire Monte Sant’Angelo Foodie Travel Guide
About the Author
Brent Petersen is the Editor-in-Chief of Destination Eat Drink. He currently resides in Setubal, Portugal. Brent has written the novel “Truffle Hunt” (Eckhartz Press) and the short story collection “That Bird.” He’s also written dozens of foodie travel guides on Destination Eat Drink, including several in Italy. Brent’s podcast, also called Destination Eat Drink, is available on all major podcasting platforms and is distributed by the Radio Misfits Podcast Network.
