Pane di Altamura is a typical Apulian bread obtained from a twice-milled durum wheat dough. It has its roots in the rural culture of the people of the Alta Murgia area and to this day it is manufactured in the artisan mode using natural yeast, acid paste, sea salt and water, naturally leavened and baked in wood-burning ovens. Its most traditional version (called “U sckuanète”, or “overlapped bread” in the local dialect) consisted of large-size loaves usually kneaded and processed at home and baked in public ovens. The baker would brand the loaves using wood or iron marks bearing the initials of the head of the customer’s family. This bread’s major virtue, which still characterizes its modern versions, is its durability, a necessary requirement since it accompanied farmers and shepherds in their one to two week-long treks to the faraway farms of the Murgia hills. Their diet, when away from home, consisted almost exclusively of bread dressed with oil and salt and immersed in boiling water.

The image of a Samnite shield surmounted by a crown arm and the words “Pane DOP di Altamura” appears on all Altamura bread labels.