Pan de Cruz de Ciudad Real

Appearance & taste

The bread is a round, flattened, domed loaf with a smooth crust. On the top, two deep cuts cross at right angles; on the underside, the PGI logo is formed from small pricks in the crust. The crust is 1 to 2 mm thick, smooth, crisp and golden yellow to light brown and tastes of toasted grain. The crumb is white, firm and absorbent, without holes, and has a cotton-wool-like texture; it smells strongly of grain and tastes slightly sweet.

The bread is sold as a large loaf (750 to 850 g), a small loaf (550 to 650 g), a flat bread, the “libreta” (310 to 410 g), and a roll, the “panecillo de cruz” (115 to 135 g). The crumb contains at most 30 % moisture. Under normal conditions the bread stays fit to eat for about six to seven days.

Production

The bread consists of common wheat flour with specified baking properties, water, salt and natural yeast, as well as permitted baking aids and additives. The dough is kneaded by machine for 20 to 30 minutes until it is homogeneous and must not get warmer than 24 to 25 °C; it is then passed several times through a dough-processing machine until it is smooth and elastic. After weighing, each piece is rounded by hand, pressed flat and stretched so that the edges become thinner and the middle stays higher.

The dough pieces prove on boards covered with linen at 26 to 30 °C and 40 to 45 % humidity, for 1 hour 20 minutes to 2 hours 20 minutes depending on the temperature. The cross is then cut by hand and the underside marked with the logo; the dough piece then rests for another 10 to 15 minutes. It is placed by hand top side down in an oven with a floor and walls of refractory material and baked for 30 to 50 minutes, first for 15 minutes at 250 °C, then at a falling temperature down to 200 °C. It is cooled on wooden boards.

Origin & history

The area comprises all municipalities of the province of Ciudad Real. According to the specification, the climate there allows the dough pieces to prove at ambient temperature. According to the specification, the craft production is held in high regard. It names as the most important feature the cross-shaped cut together with placing the bread in the oven with the cross facing down: this way the crust does not burst open during baking, and the result is the compact, dense bread with a smooth crust and firm white crumb.