Pane Frattau

“Frattau”, in sardo significa “grattugiato”, ”a pezzi”. Solo in epoca moderna si usa la sfoglia di pane intero. La preparazione si consuma arrotolando le sfoglie su se stesse, raccogliendo il condimento, e si porta direttamente in bocca con le mani. La sua preparazione è molto antica e sicuramente, in Sardegna, classificabile come piatto “povero” e per le persone meno abbienti.

Already Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus) in his Naturalis Historia spoke of bread soaked in water and olive oil and more. A monastic rule from the 6th century, called the 'Rule of the Master', contains a rule concerning bread crumbs that monks collect and put in a pan with eggs and flour. During the Middle Ages, the preparation consisted of a slice of bread on which the food was placed. Once the condiment was consumed, the bread soaked in the juices became precious food too. 

The most famous medieval cook, Maestro Martino da Como, 15th century, gives us a big hand in our research. He leaves us a recipe for breadcrumbs, soaked in broth and seasoned with cheese and eggs.

So, soggy bread is not only a food for the poor, but at some stages of culinary history, also a delicacy for the aristocratic classes.

The seasoning of bread with tomato sauce may find its first basis in Francesco Leonardi's 'Apicio moderno', published in 1790, when a tomato sauce is poured over pasta. While for the use of eggs it is easier to find quotations, because they have always been used in human nutrition. In the ancient world, cooking was also known as 'a la coque' by the French. In medieval times, poached eggs were called 'lost eggs'.

Grazia Deledda mentions bread dishes in her writings, as early as the end of the 19th century, including su pane frattau, seasoned with sauce and cheese. (Taken from taccuinistorici.it, text by Giovanni Fancello, expert and lecturer on the history of Sardinian gastronomy)

The spread of this dish is due to the famous 'lunches with the shepherds'. It originally became a way of eating leftover 'pane carasau', also known as 'music paper' because it makes noise when bitten.

Ecco come si prepara il Pane Frattau: si immergono con un mestolo largo e piatto, per pochi secondi in modo che inumidiscano senza diventare molli, le sfoglie nel brodo caldo, solitamente quello di pecora per il suo gusto più deciso. La composizione avviene nel modo stesso in cui si preparano le lasagne, alternando uno strato di sugo e pecorino grattugiato, ad uno di sfoglia, per un massimo di 3/4 strati e in cima si dispone l’uovo in camicia che viene fatto cuocere nello stesso brodo.