The Theories Behind The Unsalted Tuscan Bread If you have ever been to Tuscany you may have noticed that the most common type of bread eaten by locals and served by restaurants is salt-less. Unsalted bread, knowns as "pane sciocco/pane Toscano", is part of the gastronomic tradition of Center Italy. To be precise it's commonly eaten only in Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Tuscia Viterbese, but the most known salt-less bread of all is Pane Toscano (Tuscan bread). So what's the deal with salt-less bread? Out there are many theories for why in Tuscany they started making bread this way. One story has to do with taxes and it goes back to the 12th century. As you may know, until recent times salt was a highly prized commodity for its ability to preserve foodstuffs, and because of its value in Tuscany, during the Middle Ages, they levied a high tax on it. Unfortunately a large part of Tuscans were poor people whom couldn't afford to use salt in bread-making so legend has it that they decided to go without it, and that's how they started to bake their bread salt-less. The second story stems from the historic rivalry between Pisa and Florence. The two medieval City-States opposed each other. Back then the maritime republic of Pisa was fighting with Genoa for control of the routs in the Mediterranean, and with Florence and Lucca inland. During one of their feuds Pisa stopped salt supplies from reaching inland which lead the Tuscans to baking their bread saltless. Now, which of the two stories sound more plausible to you? Whatever the reason behind the origin of saltless bread, what's certain is that it's a very peculiar type of bread and even in most Italians' mouths Pane sciocco tastes funny, probably because we are not used to its flavour. I remember the first time I took a bite off a slice of pane sciocco and how weird it tasted. The lack of salt caught me off guard and for a moment I thought something went wrong with that loaf of bread. It was bland, dry, definitely not of my liking. To me it tasted like a few days old bread, except it was freshly baked and taken out of the oven right before my eyes. However, taste is an acquired sense that evolves with time and exposure, so I decided to not cut pane sciocco out of my diet and keep trying it so as to get more and more familiar with its peculiar texture and flavour. This type of bread is still far from being a favourite of mine and I must admit it's rare for me to buy it, but I've come to appreciate it when it goes with the right meal.