Ciabatta

Italian bread · invention · baking

Born in Italy. A baker named Arnaldo Cavallari created ciabatta in 1982 in Adria, a town in the Veneto region of northern Italy. He invented it because Italian bakers wanted to compete with the popular French baguette.

Giant air holes. What makes ciabatta special is its distinctive large holes inside the bread. These holes make it light and airy, perfect for soaking up sauce or olive oil.

Lots of water. Ciabatta dough uses more water than most breads, which is called high hydration. This extra water is what helps create all those wonderful big air pockets.

Strong flour needed. Bakers use flour with a lot of gluten to make ciabatta dough, because the wet dough needs strong structure to hold its shape and create those signature holes.

Crispy outside. Even though ciabatta is airy and soft inside, it has a wonderfully crispy, crunchy crust on the outside when it comes fresh from the oven.