A UNESCO World Heritage site, the city of Ferrara in Emilia Romagna is worth visiting for plenty of reasons – not least of which is its peculiarly shaped coppia ferrarese bread.
Coppia (ciupeta in dialect) means "couple," and the bread is made by cutting two strips from the dough, which are then rolled between the palms of one's hands so that they're joined together by the central part.
Needless to say, it's much easier said than done, and it takes expert hands to get the shape right. Romano Perdonati has been making this bread every day since he was a child, and his surname appears on the sign of a bakery in the heart of the city. He calls himself a baker by trade, like his father and grandfather. His alarm goes off at 3:00 a.m. and while he has expanded his offerings over the years, the coppia ferrarese bread remains incredibly popular.
Perdonati prepares the bread every morning with a sourdough that's been in his family for 80 years. When asked the biggest challenge when making this bread, he smiles and says, "you have to understand the flour and understand the sourdough." It seems a matter of philosophy, maybe a bit romantic.
The truth is that the question is historic. "The beauty of this bread is its history," says Perdonati, and recalls that the shape is said to be a tribute to the curls of Lucrezia Borgia, who arrived in the city in the early 16th century as the bride of Duke Alfonso d'Este. Though some say the bread's resemblance to horns recalls their metaphor that indicates a partner's infidelity.
Coppia ferrarese dates back to the Renaissance. Cristoforo da Messisbugo, the chef for the house of Este, served it at the Duke's table one carnival evening in 1536. It didn't have the “horns” for which it's known, but it was a twisted bread. In 1694, historian Antonio Frizzi defined the bread as unique in shape, workmanship, and flour in Ferrara's Historical Memoirs.
On November 9, 1958, journalist Riccardo Bacchelli wrote in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, “Ferrara's bread is a masterpiece of elegance, ingenuity, and flavor that pleases the eye and persuades the taste.” Its current form is that of two dough pieces joined together in the shape of a ribbon in the central body – the soft center is the only one with a crumb. The four ends are called crostini.
A consortium for this PGI bread was established in 2004. The production area is exclusively within the province of Ferrara, and the bread production must follow certain specifications in regard to the ingredients and the proportions.
For 75-80% of Ferrara's residents, it's still the city's most popular bread. More bread was sold in the past though as current costs are high due to the handmaking process.