"Italian Cornbread"

On my last visit to Eataly I was intrigued by what looked like a rustic, circular loaf of Italian bread with a yellowish hue, dusted in cornmeal.  The woman working the bread counter (who was Italian) admitted she had never tried it, but that it was like cornbread only very light.

I ended up being treated to the said loaf (thank you Doreen!) and was so incredibly thankful to have tried it, because this bread is simply amazing.  Unlike traditional cornbread, which can often be dense and dry or overly rich, this bread struck the perfect balance between texture and flavor. The outer rind, a classic Italian crust, gives way to a fluffy, chewy middle with a subtle corn flavor and a little grit. The loaf stayed fresh for about a week and I ate a slice every morning with a pad of butter.  When the bread started to dry out a little, I found that popping it in the microwave instantly revived its soft, fresh texture.

There are quite a few recipes for Italian cornbread or Pane di Granoturco online, though I can't definitively determine how this creation came to be.  Many recipes call for sundried tomatoes or add a little kick with hot peppers.  The blogger behind Food Wishes has a post about an Italian cornbread that closely resembles the one from Eataly.  He explains that his great grandmother used to make a basic Italian bread with cornmeal and he attempts to recreate the recipe in the video below.  If you don't have access to this type of bread at your local supermarket or bakery, baking it seems pretty simple.

Great Grandma C's Pane di Granoturco from Foodwishes on Vimeo.