Profumo di Forno, the scent of baking bread
When a Posto del Cuore is a scent, one that evokes memories and warms your heart
The gentle yet persistent waft of bread baking that escapes from bakeries and fills the streets in the morning is kryptonite. I believe all of us reading this issue can picture an exact morning in which this scent interrupted our train of thoughts, making us stop in our tracks to fill our lungs with the soft, homely, aroma. As you picture this moment, keep scrolling to read Marianna’s beautiful ode to bakeries and their scent.
Profumo di Forno
by Marianna Pitonzo: pasta girl, professional eater and Italian food opinionist.
It’s a universal truth that bakeries emanate the most mouth-watering smells on earth. The aroma of baking bread in the air acts like an invisible fishing line, hooking you by the nose and drawing you towards its source.
Tuscan forni (bakeries) have that very effect on me. I’ve been a bread enthusiast for as long as I can remember, devouring entire baguettes from my high chair as a toddler. Nothing made me happier than shopping for bread with my nonna at her local forno. I remember stepping inside the cozy Forno Rossetti (now sadly closed), its wooden shelves lined with packaged goods, and being wrapped in the most amazing scents. It was pure comfort, like a warm blanket. And Nonna would always get me a special sweet treat.
When I enter a forno now, those smells evoke the same feelings and memories I had as a little girl. Nowadays I treat myself to a crunchy, oily, salty square of schiacciata. The special kind of bread you can really only find in Tuscany. Similar to focaccia but in my humble opinion, much tastier. Every time I sink my teeth into a warm piece of schiacciata, I savor the moment. It’s one of my simple pleasures in life that most of my friends have heard me ramble about at length. I know it seems ridiculous to love bread this much, but after living 9 years in the United States, I had a schiacciata-shaped hole in my heart. I missed that distinctive profumo di forno, that bakery smell that now catches my nose whenever I walk down the street in Florence.
Even on a bad day, a forno can put a smile on my face and remind me how lucky I am to live in a place where a schiacciata is always around the corner.
Here are some of my favorite forni in the Oltrarno neighbourhood of Florence:
How I miss that forno smell also.