You will find it in any Milan bakery because it is the most typical and characteristic bread of this city. The michetta, known as rosetta elsewhere in ItalyIt is a roll of 60-70 grams that has a curious star shape. It has always been the workers' bread, the bread with which mothers prepare their children's sandwiches every day to go to school. It is the bread that is eaten for lunch, the bread for breakfast, snack or dinner.
Its origin takes us to the XNUMXth century, when some officials of the Austro-Hungarian Empire who went to Lombardy after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 they came up with this new culinary recipe. Since then it has become traditional and is still being prepared as in those first decades of the XNUMXth. For the Milanese it is a real pride, since they themselves will tell you that it is the lightest bread in the world. It does not contain any additives or chemical fats, making it ideal for any balanced diet.
It is a bread with a really curious history. Due to the high humidity of Milan, the bakers of the city realized that if they made it with a lot of crumb, it would not last all day. That is why they decided to empty it, not leave a single "Michetta", and make it hollow and crisp. Experts say that it is especially laborious to make a good michetta. It is a somewhat special bread, hence each teacher has his booklet and surely you will find something different from one bakery to another.
However, for some time now, only 25% of Milan's bakeries continue to produce it. There are more and more types of bread and, due to this difficult preparation, others are preferred. The michetta has now become an expensive bread. If you have the chance to try it, you will enjoy the traditional flavor of this city.