There legend It is said that the sandwich bread was born in Turin way back in 1391, when Amadeus VIII of Savoy he ordered the bakers to serve bread even to unwelcome people, such as executioners. In fact, the citizens hated them, not only for the work they did, but also for their standard of living (hence the typical Turin expression “boja fauss”, which denotes the historical contempt towards the executioners of death sentences). The executioners earned a lot and the contempt for their figure turned into a series of rudeness on the part of the citizens.
Among these discourtesies was that of bakers who, as a sign of contempt, handed them bread upside down. The proximity to the French border would have brought the people of Turin and Parisians into contact: the upside-down bread was a sign of great contempt towards the customer. In France, the executioners protested to the king, who responded by issuing a threatening edict towards the population. In Italy, however, the administrators issued an order for formally ban this practice.
The bakers, to circumvent the decision of the city authorities, invented a new type of bread: the White bread. This bread was shaped like a brick, the same on top and bottom, so no one would be able to complain anymore. Pancarrè, served upside down to the executioner, avoided further problems and became the bread of Turin that went around the world world.
However, they do not exist official findings which confirm the Turin paternity of the bread. Although the legend is suggestive, historians doubt its veracity. The invention of bread as we know it today is attributed to the American of German origin Otto Frederick Rohwedderwhich in 1917 he devised a mechanized system for slicing bread. Only in 1928, this invention was commercialized, giving birth to the industrial bread roll.
In Turin, in the same years, Mulassano created i Sandwich, the Italian answer to the English tea sandwich. Today bread in Italy is almost exclusively an industrial product, and its name, certainly Piedmontese, derives from the French “pain carré”, which means square bread. The history of Turin’s pancarré remains unsolved fascinating story, a legacy of times gone by that mixes with the modernity of a now global product. Whether it is just an urban legend born at the end of the 20th century or a fragment of true history, bread continues to be a symbol of innovation and culinary tradition.
