Shepherd's Bread · Paper-Thin Crispbread
Pane Carasau
Photo: Luigi Chiesa / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
It's nicknamed 'carta da musica' (music paper) because the baked bread is so thin and crisp that it shatters and rustles almost like paper.
Pane carasau is a round, wafer-thin flatbread made from durum wheat, baked until it puffs, split into two sheets, then baked again until crisp. Sardinian markets and bakeries sell stacks of it, often drizzled with olive oil and salt and eaten as 'pane guttiau,' or softened in broth and layered with tomato sauce, pecorino and a poached egg as pane frattau.
Why it's made this way: Shepherds needed bread that would keep for months while they were out with the flocks in Sardinia's interior, and the twice-baked, moisture-free crispbread became the island's staple loaf.
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