Pane carasau is a flat Italian bread, traditionally made in Sardinia characterized by a uniquely thin and crispy texture.
Its history starts all the way back to before 1000 BC. The women prepared it for their men who were working as shepherds in the fields. The bread was made in such a way it wouldn’t lose its flavor and texture and was able to be stored for a long period of time.
The bread is made from hard wheat bran or semolina, salt, yeast and water and the name ‘carasau’ refers to the toasting or the crust of bread and is the most famous Sardinian bread in the world. It was originally made using a labour-intensive process that required three women.
The process is composed by the preparing of the dough which is rolled out in order to form thin sheets. Then it gets baked in a very hot oven which causes the dough to puff up into a ball shape. those forms are then removed from the hot oven and cut along the circumference to then get divided into sheets. The sheets are then baked one more time in order to obtain the crispiness that characterises the bread.
The light and subtle flavor of the bread enables it to be used for many recipes. One of them is the typical Sardinian plate ‘Pane Frattau‘, made with the bread, tomato sauce, meat broth, grated pecorino cheese, and egg.
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