WHOLE CRUSHED FRIESELLE

Frisella (or frisa) is a tarallo made of durum wheat (but also barley or in combination according to various proportions) cooked in the oven, cut in half horizontally and toasted again in the oven. It follows that it has a porous and a compact face. It is important to distinguish between frisa and bread: frisa is in fact not bread, as it is cooked twice. The dough, obtained by leavening wheat or barley flour with water, salt and yeast, is worked by hand to make its structure homogeneous and cut into the desired size according to local tradition and worked into the shape of a lozenge. With a precise gesture, press the four fingertips perfectly aligned along the axis of the lozenge, determining a reduction in thickness along the main axis, which will facilitate the subsequent split. The lozenge obtained is rolled up on itself into a short spiral shape with a small central hole and subsequently baked in contact with other pieces, in small batches of six to eight shapes. After the first cooking, the single wheel, while still hot, is cut with a string (“a strazzo”) on the median horizontal plane, leaving the characteristic irregular surface on the surface where the string slides. two pieces obtained, the lower one with a flat bottom and the upper one with a curved back, are cooked again in the oven to eliminate the residual humidity of the dough. The frisa is stored in clay containers to protect it from humidity and facilitate its conservation. The friselle of larger sizes, as a result of the processes prior to cooking, upon wetting (sponzatura[3]) divide almost naturally into two parts: the softer upper one at the crack face and the harder bottom one; it is customary to serve them already on the plate divided to facilitate seasoning. The smaller friselle are soaked and seasoned whole. In the past, the size of a single frisella corresponded to the portion of bread necessary for the diet of a worker carrying out heavy work and often constituted the entire caloric intake of the meal. Produced mainly in Puglia (where it is called friseddhra, fresella, frisa, friseddha, Spatella or Spattatedd' in the various Apulian variants), frisella is also very widespread in Campania, where it takes the name of fresella, in Basilicata called fresa or frisedda and in Calabria with the name of cutter. To taste it, it is bathed in cold water for a time that depends on the individual taste and consistency of the cooked pasta. Then it is seasoned with fresh tomato, oregano, salt and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. As a variant you can rub a clove of garlic on the frisa before wetting it, you can add chilli pepper, barattiere or carosello.

Its origins date back to the 10th century BC, consumed by Phoenician navigators as travel bread, softened with sea water and flavored with olive oil. Before the post-war period, wheat flour frisella was reserved only for wealthy tables and for a few other celebratory occasions. The less wealthy classes of the population consumed friselle made of barley flour or mixtures of barley and wheat. Frisella can be preserved for a long period and this made it a valid alternative to bread, in periods when flour was scarcer. In Puglia it is also known as the bread of the Crusaders as it favored the provision and travel of Christian troops. Similar to the Phoenician tradition, in the past in Puglia it was customary to bathe the friselle directly in sea water, and consume them seasoned only with fresh tomatoes, pressed to release the juice. The shape is not the result of aesthetic research or chance, but responds to precise transport and conservation needs. The friselle were strung on a string whose ends were knotted to form a necklace, which was easy to hang for easy and convenient transport and dry storage. Frisella was in fact a travel bread; hence the custom of bathing it in sea water by fishermen, who also used it as a base for fish or mussel soups, usual foods during fishing trips that lasted several days