Acorn bread: A traditional food of the past in Sardinia (Italy)

Acorn bread, known as Pan’Ispeli in Sardinian, constituted a precious source of nutrition over the ages. Especially widespread in Ogliastra, it was made with somewhat unusual ingredients, including ash and clay, and is considered a unique food by many historians. So much so that the women of the town of Baunei took pride in their skill at making acorn bread and apparently sold it at a higher price than regular wheat flour bread. The laborious process of preparation of acorns for bread-making is said to have been a ceremony with religious connotations, to such an extent that the ingredients came only from plants and areas that were well known by the elders. It was a ritual passed down from generation to generation. Although acorn bread is no longer part of today's diet in Sardinia, it is still remembered by some of the elderly people of our island and is on occasion still made for village festivities.