"You will experience how salty other people's bread tastes"

For those born with it, it's not one of those things you pay attention to. At least until you travel, even a short one: just go to another region and one of the first things a Tuscan notices is the difference between their bread and that of others. This is also true the other way around: when a non-Tuscan arrives and sits down at the table, they're almost shocked because the bread is unsalted, unsalted.A tradition that once again has its origins in ancient times, as attested by a Tuscan par excellence like Dante Alighieri, who, in the seventeenth canto of Paradise, writes, ”You will prove to me how salty is the bread of others.“A plausible reason for the birth of unsalted bread in Tuscany can be traced back to the twelfth century, and it's a reason that could be defined as an embargo. At that time, Pisa controlled the maritime trade of many goods, including salt; Pisa, in a constant battle with other Tuscan cities, but especially with Florence, against which the war had been raging for years. With this in mind, the Pisans significantly reduced the availability of salt throughout the region.A sort of emergency plan was thus implemented in other cities. A necessary rationalization of salt led to its use primarily for preserving meat and fish (refrigerators didn't yet exist!) and to reducing its use in other dishes. Above all, bread. Thus was born ”pane sciocco“ (unsalted bread), which would later also find a gastronomic justification: since Tuscan dishes, from cured meats to cheeses, are generally very robust and flavorful, unsalted bread enhances their flavor without spoiling it. Just think of bread-based dishes like minestra di pane (bread soup), ribollita (a type of soup), panzanella (a type of soup), pappa col pomodoro (a type of tomato soup), or fettunta (a type of flatbread).