Pane di Matera IGP — Sourdough Mountain Bread

Feed the lievito madre twice at 12-hour intervals before the bake day: each time combine the starter with its equal weight of semola rimacinata and half that weight in cool water, knead to a firm dough, and seal in a jar. The starter is ready when it has doubled in volume and the interior shows a honeycomb of small, even bubbles — puncture it and it should smell sharply sour, faintly of yoghurt.

Combine all dough water with 350 g of the semola rimacinata and mix briefly to a rough paste. Rest 30 minutes (autolyse). Add the refreshed lievito madre, torn into pieces, and the remaining 550 g semola. Work by hand or in a stand mixer on medium speed until the dough comes cleanly away from the bowl sides — semola absorbs water more slowly than soft flour; allow 10–12 minutes. The dough should be firm, slightly tacky, and hold its shape when cupped in the palm.

Add the salt and work it fully into the dough for a further 2 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled container. Over the next 4–6 hours at room temperature (18–21 °C), perform a series of stretch-and-fold cycles every 45 minutes for the first three hours (four to five cycles total), then allow the dough to rest undisturbed. Bulk fermentation is complete when the dough has increased by 50–70% in volume, the surface is domed and beginning to show bubbles, and the mass feels airy — light — when lifted.

Turn the dough onto an unfloured surface. Shape into a tall, domed oval: pre-shape into a round, rest 20 minutes, then draw the dough into a long oval and pinch two small 'horns' (the cornetto) from the upper end by pulling and twisting two small projections of dough upward. The shaping must be decisive; the surface tension of the final form determines the oven spring and the open crumb. Place seam-side down on a well-floured couche or semola-dusted parchment. This is where the bread lives or dies: a slack, poorly tensioned shape will spread rather than rise in the oven, and the crumb will be dense.

Cover and retard in the refrigerator for 12–16 hours (or proof at room temperature for 2–4 hours if baking the same day). The loaf is ready to bake when it has visibly expanded, the surface skin has tightened and dried slightly, and a finger-poke leaves an indentation that springs back slowly but does not fully recover.

One hour before baking, place a heavy baking stone or cast-iron vessel on the oven's lowest rack and heat the oven to 250 °C. Score the top of the loaf with one decisive longitudinal cut down the dome and two short lateral cuts at the base of the horns. Load the loaf onto the stone. Introduce steam immediately (pour 150 ml boiling water into a heated tray on the oven floor, or cover with a lid for the first 20 minutes). Bake at 250 °C for 20 minutes: the crust should be setting to a deep amber and the loaf visibly risen, the kitchen filling with a toasted-grain smell.

Remove the steam source or lid. Reduce the oven to 200 °C and continue baking for 40–50 minutes. The loaf is done when the crust is dark golden-brown and the underside, when tapped with a knuckle, returns a hollow sound that carries — not a dull thud, but a resonant knock from a fully dried interior. Rest on a wire rack for a minimum of 2 hours before cutting: the crumb continues to set as it cools, and a loaf cut too soon will be gummy.