The Simple Luxury of Daily Bread

In his 1928 “Battle for Grain,” Mussolini commanded his people to “love bread / heart of the home / fragrance of the table / joy of the hearth.” Il Duce was, after all, an advertising copywriter by vocation, and this piece of culinary doggerel was once standard fare in elementary school primers. Italian nonagenarians may still remember it. Bread, then, was the cornerstone of a virtuous, frugal, patriotic lifestyle. Start putting condiments on that bread, and it’s a slippery slope to the outright sin of gluttony. Italy’s cultural policies in those days drew upon venerable old strictures and sentiments of restraint. Name-checked in prayer, a loaf of bread was sacred, reverential, almost eucharistic. In all its previous issues, FMR has never before turned to the art of crumb and crust; now we have, and with great panache. Not even the poorest pauper has ever been satisfied with bare necessities. Ordinary bread could be elevated into intricately crafted and decorated loaves that adorned Sardinian tables for lavish feasts and special occasions. The necessary can become beautiful: and in traditional societies, loaves became ephemeral masterpieces of the highest female craftsmanship.