Blessed with bread

Documentaries

To Italians, bread is life. With 250 varieties across the country, it’s eaten with almost every meal. Its importance speaks to national values of community, tradition, quality and - above all - religion. In this edition of Heart and Soul, Australian-Japanese food writer Emiko Davies takes a tasty journey into the spiritual significance of bread in Italy, her adopted home.
Davies finds herself in the west of Sicily, where residents honour Saint Joseph by constructing intricate sculptural breads, adorning altars with baked symbols, and staging a ritualised feast attended by the entire community. And then the coast of Puglia, where locals queue to receive blessed loaves in celebration of Saint Anthony. Finally, with food historian Fabrizia Lanza, Davies reflects on the origins of religious superstitions surrounding bread, and what the nation's diverse culinary traditions tell us about faith in Italy today.
Presenter: Emiko Davies
Producer: Jude Shapiro
Executive Producer: Jack Howson
Production Coordinator: Ieva Sabaliauskaite
A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC World Service
Image: Bread display at an altar (Credit: Jude Shapiro)