The Bread That Ran Big Mac Out Of Town

We continue our lifestyle updates about Puglia. A recent Times newspaper article came to mind that says a lot about Puglia and how people view their food in this part of the world. AFTER a five-year battle, the fast-food giant McDonald's has retreated from a southern Italian town, defeated by the sheer wholesomeness of a local baker's bread. The closure of McDonald's in Altamura, Puglia, was hailed yesterday as a victory for European cuisine against globalised fast food. Luigi Digesu, the baker, said that he had not set out to force McDonald's to close down in any bellicose spirit. He had merely offered the 65,000 residents tasty filled panini, which they overwhelmingly preferred to hamburgers and chicken nuggets.

It is a question of free choice, Signor Digesu said. His speciality fillings include mortadella, mozzarella and eggs or scamorza cheese, eggs, basil and tomato, as well as fedda, a local version of bruschetta toasted bread drizzled with olive oil and salt and covered in chopped tomatoes. McDonald's opened in a piazza in the centre of Altamura, 45km (30 miles) south of Bari, in 2001, infuriating devotees of traditional Puglian gastronomy such as Peppino Colamonico, a doctor, and Onofrio Pepe, a journalist. They campaigned against McDonald's as the Friends of Cardoncello, named after a southern Italian mushroom.

Altamura, founded in the 5th century BC and rebuilt in the Middle Ages by Frederick II, is famed for its fragrant, golden bread, and for Signor Digesu's victorious panini. 'There was no marketing strategy, no advertising promotion, no discounts,' Il Giornale commented. 'It was just that people decided the baker's products were better. David has beaten Goliath.' The queues outside the bakery grew longer while McDonald's gradually emptied, despite the best efforts of Ronald McDonald, the mascot clown, changes of management, children's parties and special offers. In July 2003 Altamura bread was recognised by the European Union as a protected regional product after lobbying by Enzo Lavarra, Euro MP for the Bari area, Rachele Popolizio, the Mayor of Altamura, and Giuseppe Barile, head of the local bakers' association.

Signor Pepe said that he regretted the loss of 20 jobs at McDonald's, but 'tradition has won'. The campaign was supported by the Slow Food Foundation, founded in 1986 by Carlo Petrini, an Italian journalist incensed by the opening of a McDonald's on the Piazza di Spagna near the Spanish Steps in Rome. It has 82,000 members in 107 countries. Altamura Bread Altamura bread was the first baking product in Europe to be granted a DOP certificate, and is so far the only Italian bread to qualify for the honour. DOP stands for Denominazione d'Origine Protetta, or denomination of protected origin, the equivalent of DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata, or denomination of controlled origin), used for wines. DOP products must be specific to a geographic area The bread is made from locally grown durum wheat flour with yeast, water and marine salt, according to a recipe dating to 1500.

The formula is almost certainly older, however, because Horace, the Roman poet, called the bread 'the best in the world' The flour must be ground in mills within the communes of Altamura, Gravina di Puglia, Poggiorsini, Spinazzola and Minervino Murge, all in the province of Bari. The baking process has five stages from the rolling of the dough to baking It is baked in an open oak wood oven. It is unusually long-lasting and was originally created for shepherds and farmers who worked in the fields and hills of Apulia for days or even weeks at a time Altamura bread is the basis of several local dishes, including a winter soup called cialda, in which slices of the bread line a pot to which are added water, onions, tomatoes, parsley, basil, potatoes, olive oil, olives, celery and lemons.

Steve Elliott prepares internet marketing campaigns for a number of uk clients, including the web site at http://www.italianproperty.tv The property specialists in Puglia Italy.