There's an ancient saying that man can't live by bread alone.

I guess whoever wrote Deuteronomy never wandered past the bread bakeries of Altamura, in Puglia.

Because if they did, they█d know Yeah, man.

You can.

Let's discover all the joys of Italian bread.

Today, on Christina Cooks: The Macroterranean Way.

Funding for Christina Cooks is provided by: GreenOnyx, producers of Wanna Greens A tiny but nutrient dense fresh green vegetable.

Wanna Greens can be added to any meal, snack or dessert.

Fresh greens.

Wanna Greens.

Additional funding provided by Finamill.

The flavor of freshly ground spices and dried herbs with refillable, swappable pods.

Finamill.

And by Mauviel, creators of copper, stainless and steel carbon cookware for professional and home cooks.

A story of passion since 1830.

And by Suzanne█s Specialties Offering a full line of alternative, vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne█s Specialties.

Sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

And by Jonathan█s Spoons.

Individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding provided by: Hi, I'm Christina Pirello, and this is Christina Cooks, where each week we take fresh seasonal ingredients and whip them into amazing dishes.

Will they all be plant based?

Yep.

Will they all be delicious?

You bet.

This is life.

I'm here in Altamura where they make the best bread in the world due to 90 year old yeast and the perfect microclimate.

So let's go big and not waste any more time.

(Italian music plays) I am so excited to be at Panificio di Gesu with Giuseppe di Gesu - The owner.

- It█s a pleasure.

Grazie!

Okay.

Show me.

Yes, the dough is ready, so we're going to make bread right away.

and then talk about the specialness of the bread.

Okay.

(speaking Italian) Okay.

This is the city of bread.

Yes.

(speaking Italian) Ah!

He believes, and I believe it's true, since I've had this bread, that it's the best in the world.

- Why?

- Our bread is special because we use, to make it, Re-milled semolina flour.

So this very fine flour here is re-milled semolina.

It's almost like a powder more than a flour.

Yeah?

- So the bread is very light.

- Yeah.

And we use only four types of durum grain.

Only four.

Okay.

So four times wheat.

Durum wheat.

They are local types.

All local, yes.

It is very special because to make our bread we use only natural yeast.

- Natural yeast?

- Or... - Yes, mother yeast.

- Ah, so, like a sourdough.

Like sourdough.

Yeah.

And you said █ his yeast is 90 years old.

Novanta, ninety, nine-zero.

We have our mother has more or less 90 years.

And we feed it every four hours, every day, Every four hours, every day.

Wow.

So it█s very alive.

Yeah.

So since 90 years, they feed their starter - we call it starter in the US - every four hours, every day to keep it alive and fermenting.

- Okay.

Show me.

- Yes!

Show me, master, how to do this.

There, alora.

- Look at me.

- Okay.

- Along the first side.

after.

- Okay.

- Like this, and like this.

- Okay.

- And I close it.

Solo.

- Solo.

Okay.

After.

One side on the other side.

- Okay, okay, I try, - I help you, don█t worry.

We do it together.

- We do it together.

- It█s okay.

- So this way.

- Yeah.

- This way.

- Yeah.

- This way.

- Yeah.

(speaking Italian) - (speaking Italian) - like this?

Yeah.

- In the enter.

- In the center... Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Oh, no no no no.

Higher.

- Soft.

- Little flour.

And that...

Okay.

(speaking Italian) - Brava, Christina.

- Wow!

Bravissimo.

So talk to me a little bit about while you are making the bread.

Why?

It has a beautiful crust always.

And it's very light and airy inside.

But it stays fresh for so long.

- Yes.

- Is that because of the yeast?

for the yeast and for the crunch.

- Okay.

- It's very important.

Our crunch.

It is more or less one centimeter.

Half a centimeter.

Yup.

Half a centimeter thick crust.

Yeah.

That preserves the humidity into the bread.

Ah!

Okay.

- I understand now.

- It█s a secret, - but it█s not a secret.

Well, it's not a secret now, but... but people don't have this oven, this flour.

Yes, but this is very important because in Altamura, we have DOP certification.

Ah, si!

DOP means that we have a special product that is unique and it is a local product.

And they protect, it's protected.

- Yes.

- As a result.

- Yeah.

- Wow.

It is protected.

We must respect some rules to do our bread.

- Okay.

Some of that, rules are that we use only this type of oven.

- Wood?

- Oven.

Yes.

We use only oak bur to burn.

- Really?

Only oak?

Okay.

- Only oak.

We use re-milled semolina.

Local re-milled semolina.

Sorry.

And we use our natural yeast, our mother yeast.

- Okay.

- Okay.

This is... the most important things that we must respect to do our bread.

But that's so...

So I hope you're understanding what's happening here is they follow a certain very strict amount of rules so that their bread remains protected by DOP, which is a certification that protects them, but also allows them to create this very special, unique product that's very natural and very healthy for humans.

And makes a very small footprint, I might add.

Right?

You're just burning oak.

It's not a big, production of refined food, right?

This is a special thing.

I said.

This is a diet bread.

- Yeah, it's a diet bread.

- In South Italy, you can eat more or less, we... more or less we eat half kilo of bread every day.

- Really?

Wow.

- Yes.

And you don't fat because the long levitation.

(speaking Italian) - Yeah.

- (laughing) Thank you.

The long levitation is important - For digestion!

- Yes.

And because the yeast - The bacteria.

- Yeah.

Eats all the sugar into the flour.

So the yeast, because the natural yeast they use is 90 years old, it actually devours the sugar in the bread, allowing them to eat almost a pound of bread every day and still digest it easily because of the fermentation and not gain weight from eating bread.

This in my world is paradise.

Yeah.

We have time.

I think this is the chef, the master chef...

The oven is the master chef.

Oh, the oven is the chef!

- Is the master chef.

- Absolutely.

- He's the commander.

- Yes.

It decides.

So how long does the bread stay in the oven?

One hour.

One hour?

Yes.

We wait one hour from the last one.

And how long have you been making these breads?

I mean, you just one after the other.

All your life.

Tutta la vita.

Yes... We need more or less 40 minutes to put in our bread.

So it takes 40 minutes to fill the oven.

- Yes, 30, 40 minutes.

- Okay, okay, okay.

- So the first cooks... - Faster.

Yes.

Not faster.

One hour and forty minutes.

- The last one, one hour.

- Ah, really!

- And it doesn█t burn?

- No!

Why this?

Because we have different temperature - In the oven.

- Yes.

There is less...

Here we have the fire now.

- Yeah.

- Wow.

So this is the Altamura bread.

Yeah.

It is so fragrant and so wonderful.

It is the most amazing thing.

Giuseppe, you can continue to make bread.

I am going to, uh... take this bread.

I'm taking one of these breads back to the villa, where we'll be cooking with it.

(Italian music plays) (Acoustic music plays) So now that I have this gorgeous Altamura bread... You know, in our house, my husband makes all the bread.

It's gorgeous, but not quite like this.

I'm going to make a lovely breakfast sandwich that's packed with protein and veg and perfect to start your day.

But I'm thinking this bread could be a little bit of a challenge to cut.

(speaking Italian) - Si, Christina!

Coming.

Honey, you know, I was call you for the hard jobs.

Can you cut me two slices of this Altamura bread?

- Please?

Okay.

- I can try, I can try.

- Maybe split it in half first?

- Si.

Look how beautiful it still is inside.

Oh, look.

It's still.

Yeah.

It's beautiful.

Look at that, look!

It's still, like puffy inside.

Woo!

- Okay.

- Now your goal is to not cut my fingers off.

Is to not cut your fingers and to cut, - like, two nice slices.

- Two nice slices?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Look, it's easier than we thought.

Of course, I'm not the one slicing.

As I say, it's easier than we thought.

- This.

This is just phenomenal.

- Gorgeous.

- Yeah, right?

Come on.

- This is amazing.

So do you want to start frying your tofu?

This is a tofu breakfast sandwich, right?

Yep.

- Si, okay.

- Scusa.

- My olive oil, darling.

- Yeah, okay.

But I also - I also need the cutting board.

One second, I█ll come back to bread.

Let me... slice your tofu.

Oh, you going to do all the work for me?

Wow!

Oh, no, not all the work A little of the work.

- Is that ready yet?

Yeah, yeah, the water█s ready.

This tofu, notice, it's already spiced - and seasoned.

- Yeah, it's already seasoned.

- How did you do that?

-I didn█t, ha!

- I bought it that way.

- Put it cut side down.

Ah, there's that lovely sizzle.

Do you think I need to put a little soy sauce?

- No?

No.

- No, cut another piece of bread for you.

Okay.

Careful, careful, careful.

Watch your little... Watch your little fingers - Greasy.

- Watch your little fingers.

Yes, yes.

Yes, dear.

Let's leave with the ten you arrived with.

Wow.

What's amazing is...

The crust is really thick and the inside is, like, poofy, beautiful, semola bread, which is exactly what it is.

And it's just gorgeous.

What's amazing... when I make bread at home, all the flour I use comes from here, comes from Italy.

We find a good importer in the United States, which is easy to find, and we buy all our flour here in from Italy.

So.

- Okay, ciao.

Ciao.

- There you go, my dear.

-Ciao.

- Have fun.

Ciao, ciao, ciao.

You'll get to enjoy the sandwich, you know that?

- Yes.

Yeah.

So you just want to lightly brown your tofu.

You don't have to leave it in here a long time.

Tofu is perfectly ready, prepared.

And this one has fresh herbs in it.

If you don't have a tofu that has herbs and it's already seasoned, I usually cook my tofu with oil, a little soy sauce, and some balsamic vinegar.

Trust me, do it.

It won't stick.

It'll be delicious.

Now we take a little bit more olive oil onto our bread.

Just a little drizzle.

I don't use mayonnaise.

I use olive oil or sometimes mustard, but in this case it's olive oil.

Then we're going to slice some avocado.

You want an avocado that's not super ripe for this so that you can slice it and not have it turn into mush.

Then █ that's ready.

We'll take a couple of slices of treviso radicchio.

You can use lettuce.

You can use arugula.

What I like about radicchio is it's yet again another bitter vegetable that helps the liver to do its job.

So we'll take three slices of that, three leaves kind of cover the bread with them.

Like this.

This is going to be a very interesting sandwich for people to eat.

Tofu goes on top.

And because this bread is so big and yummy, this is probably a sandwich for two people.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

In my house, you never know.

Bread is a very popular food in my house.

Then we take some sun dried tomatoes and I buy them soaked in oil so that they're soft and tender.

And here the sun dried tomatoes are like that, like velvet.

They're just.

They're just.

I don't even know what to say.

They're just.

Okay.

Avocado.

When I serve this sandwich at home, it's usually not on Altamura bread.

But there's so much stuff on it.

I wonder, do people think I love them or not love them?

I don't know.

Put the top on.

And here is the breakfast of champions loaded with protein and veg and on the best bread in the world.

Now, not all of us ██ In fact, none of us in the US can get this best bread in the world from Altamura.

So let's head home and I'll teach you a showstopping sandwich that will knock your socks off with bread right at home.

(gentle music continues) Hi, Chris, I'm so excited to be here.

- Welcome!

- I can't believe I'm going to get to bake with you, the genius behind Mighty Bread.

- Let's go bake!

- Alright.

Great.

So, Chris, talk to me about how you started this.

What made you want to start this?

And particularly a sour dough.

You know what I mean?

Like, what made you get into this?

It started very much as this little neighborhood thing.

I opened random days whenever I felt like it.

And my sister used to come and run the register and it was just me, and it was this great thing to be able to share with the neighborhood and kind of nourish the people around us.

And it grew.

Okay, so show me what to do.

We're going to take this, and we're going to kind of we want it to be kind of a rectangle.

Okay.

How long has this fermented?

- About nine hours.

- Okay.

And then it'll sit for a full another 12 before it gets made.

Wow.

Okay.

So we're going to take it and we're going to fold the top two corners in.

Okay.

So we make ourselves a nice like “A” We're going to take it and we're going to fold down.

And then we're going to use our thumbs to create some pressure and then roll.

We're creating tension along the front side of the loop - Okay?

- Okay.

We're just going to keep doing that.

All right, and then we're going to take it like this with the seam side up.

Okay.

And we're going to lay it into one of our baskets.

And then it's ready to go into the fridge for a long fermentation.

for a long fermentation.

Chris, what are we going to do now?

We take the bread after it's had a long fermentation overnight in the fridge.

- Now, this is not cornmeal.

- No.

We use a coarse ground semolina for the bottom of our loaves so that we can get it off the peels and get it inside.

And then it's also nicer bite than if you█re to have cornmeal - on the bottom, very coarse.

- Yeah - cornmeal has a funny... -Texture.

- Yeah, so yeah.

So we dust this on all of our peels as well as on our loaves.

So you█ve dusted the top of the loaf, too?

Yep - and we█ll do both just to... You know, we always say that by the time you get this far, you want it to go as smoothly as possible.

- So we start with a very sharp - Razor blade.

And, you know, typically what we do is we're making a cut so that there's the path of least resistance for the bread to open up as the steam and, expands it in the oven.

So you don█t go down the center?

because you want █ right.

We want █ we want it to open up kind of like in a nice little bunny shape.

And so for these in particular, we go along the one side at a 45 degree angle.

That's so beautiful.

Look how fast they've already started to.

And you'll see how about halfway through.

They'll be almost their full size.

And so now we have some of our sours coming out.

It smells...

It smells like heaven in here.

I have to tell you guys.

And so we were able to get that nice tension so that then when we scored them.

Oh, and this is so nice.

- On the bottom, the semolina.

- Yep, you get a nice... And I love that.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Wow.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Wow.

Thank you so much for having me Chris.

- You█re so welcome.

- This was so much fun.

I loved being here, but I need a loaf of country sourdough to go make a tempeh sandwich back at home.

Let's do it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you again.

I'll see you soon.

You know, I'm here every week.

All right.

- Thanks, Chris.

- Take care.

Bye.

(acoustic music continues) So let's make a sandwich.

Wait - another one?

Yes.

The show's all about bread.

And while most of us can't get bread from Altamura, you can get a great locally baked, sourdough based, whole grain bread that will knock your socks off.

And we're going to make a sandwich out of tempeh.

Now, you can either use tempeh or packaged baked tofu.

You choose, but since I used tofu earlier, we're going to use tempeh.

Tempeh is Indonesian and tastes pretty much like nothing.

It's very mild, bland, Clark Kent-ish if you will.

So we are going to sauté it to give it some flavor, but being lazy as I am, we will not be marinating it first.

We do everything in the pan ██olive oil, a little soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.

A nice thick, syrupy balsamic vinegar.

This will flavor your tempeh and you're thinking, “Okay, sounds a little nuts, but let's try it.” Tempeh goes in, thinly sliced, and this tempeh will brown and as it browns, two minutes each side, we█ll turn it.

While that starts to happen, we'll take our bread.

I kind of like to match my bread up, and we'll start by spreading some hummus on both sides of the bread.

When you make a sandwich make a sandwich with your heart, do you know what I mean?

Make it hearty and goopy and sloppy.

And twelve napkins needed.

Because bread is more than just a luxury.

Some people think they can live without it.

But the truth is, bread, because of its high fiber, has a prebiotic effect on your gut bacteria.

And by challenging the gut to digest, it actually makes you stronger.

Now, that's if you don't have celiac or a gluten intolerance.

But what's interesting is many people think that they can't eat gluten in this country because it makes them feel bloated or tired or whatever.

The truth is, it's because there is higher gluten in American wheat.

60% of our grain that's grown for bread is made from a hard red winter wheat, while in Europe it's made from a soft spring wheat.

So it's lower in gluten, easier to digest.

It's why so many people travel to Europe and are shocked that they can eat bread or pastries or pasta.

So keep that in mind when you're wondering whether you should eat gluten or not.

And many local bakeries do use a softer grain, so that's something else to keep in mind.

So the tempeh is going to brown and get sort of crunchy at the edges.

On the other side.

So once your tempeh has browned, just take it right onto your hummus.

Just kind of pile it on top of each other.

And then to finish the sandwich we start with sautéing some onions.

With some salt.

And if you want to spice things up, some chili pepper.

And we'll sauté these just until they start to wilt a little bit.

You don't have to worry about them being translucent or whatever.

You want a little bit of crunch on your sandwich.

So now we'll take some kale.

With the sandwich out of the way, take a little bit of lacinato kale, and just before it goes into the pan, slice it into thin ribbons.

When you're cooking with greens, you want to slice them just as they go into the pan so that the nutrition isn't lost.

When you slice greens, they're delicate.

They lose their nutrition really quickly.

And since we have tempeh that█s had soy sauce, and we have the onions that have a pinch of salt and a little chili, we're not going to add more salt to this.

This is sort of your garnish.

And the minute it turns bright green like this a nice rich green.

You take your greens and your onions and you start to pile them on top of your tempeh.

This sandwich is going to have some teeth.

So it goes like that.

Then we'll take some kimchi.

Nice fermented spicy kimchi for digestion because we've got protein.

We've got bread, we've got greens.

The kimchi just adds a little bit of spark.

I know for me, I can't go a day without eating kimchi.

And the final ingredient is called Wolffia arrhiza.

And you're thinking, okay, so it's actually a freshwater lentil.

This tiny little vegetable.

This is a whole vegetable.

A few spoons of this a day gives you green nutrient density.

So then.

Top our sandwich, pop it on a plate.

And I'm not really sure what you're having for lunch, but I know what I'm having.

So, what are you waiting for?

Let's get back to the cutting board, and I'll see you next time on Christina Cooks.

The Macroterranean Way.

Funding for Christina Cooks is provided by: GreenOnyx, producers of Wanna Greens Organic and sustainable, Wanna Greens are grown in a completely closed, indoor environment.

At Wanna Greens, we believe in the benefits of fresh greens for people and the planet.

Additional funding provided by Finamill.

The flavor of freshly ground spices and dried herbs with refillable, swappable pods.

Finamill.

And by Mauviel, creators of copper, stainless and steel carbon cookware for professional and home cooks.

A story of passion since 1830.

And by Suzanne█s Specialties Offering a full line of alternative, vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne█s Specialties.

Sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

And by Jonathan█s Spoons.

Individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding provided by: You can find today's recipes and learn more by visiting our website at christinacooks.com and by following Christina on social media.

Learn how to add delicious plant based dishes to your daily diet with the companion cookbook VegEdibles.

Featuring more than 80 easy-to-make recipes To order your copy for $32.95 plus handling, call 800-266-5815 or visit christinacooks.com.

Add “Back to the Cutting Board” and get both books for $55.95 plus handling.