Hard-crusted, holey bread -- what is it?

[Xose]

When I was living in Uvieu and in the process of gaining 15 pounds in six months , every day I used to buy a loaf of this amazing bread (which I had always associated with Galicia prior to that time) and down it with a bottle of cheap wine. It had a hard, yet chewy crust, and was soft in the middle with lots of air pockets that created holes. What is this bread?

[Terechu]

Sounds to me like it might be "chapata"? If so, it's really an Italian type bread called "Ciabatta", which has become very popular in recent years.
Check out this site:
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/ciabatta.html

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Creo que te refieres a la chapata. En tal caso, se trata en realidad de un tipo de pan italiano que se llama "Ciabatta", y que se ha puesto muy de moda en los últimos años.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/ciabatta.html

[Cesar.astur]

Could it be what we call Hogaza? it's round and really tasty. I love it. The Galician one is very famous but I prefer the one made in León.
http://www.lareira.net/cast/tipicos/productoscast.php?Id=68
http://www.patrimonio-gastronomico.com/panreposteria_c.shtml?idboletin=129&idseccion=414&idarticulo=3250

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¿Puede ser lo que llamamos Pan de Hogaza? es de forma redonda y muy sabroso. La hogaza de Galicia es muy famosa aunque yo prefiero la que se hace en León.

[Bob]

I'm not sure exactly what your bread is, but it seems very similar to what I buy locally at a Sicilian bakery. It is very similar to the bread I had in Asturias. When I am in Rockport, I drive 5 miles each way to the bakery every morning at 8:00 a.m. when they open, and bring home a loaf still hot from the oven. I cannot imagine a better breakfast. It's very similar to the bread I grew up with in Niagara Falls (also baked by Sicilians), which was my family's favorite bread.

Ciabatta bread has olive oil added, and has a somewhat tougher texture, although it is also very good.

It is perhaps not surprising that Spanish forces occupied Sicily for quite a while.

[Barbara Alonso Novellino]

Hi All,

I am pretty sure that this is an Italian Bread too.

In a local Italian Pork Store here I buy it already sliced. It is amazing when you toast it. It has a hard crust and soft inside.

[Art]

When I was living in Madrid, we went to Paris for a vacation. On the way back we rode on the train with a family of Madrileños. For at least an hour they went on and on, complaining about how awful the French bread was. The best part, though, was when they talked about how they had to go to an Italian restaurant to get a good meal!

I sensed that Spaniards like Italian food and feel that they had a lot in common with Italians.

Me? Ha! I could get fat in either country. We ate well. I remember that after one particularly wonderful meal we had to sit on a bench for an hour so we could waddle away.

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Cuando vivía en Madrid, fuimos a París por vacaciones. Cuando regresamos fuimos por el tren con una familia de madrileños. Charlaron por lo menos una hora sin cesar, quejándose de el pan frances: "¡Qué horroroso!". ¡La mejor parte, aunque, era cuando dijeron que tuvieron que ir a un restaurante italiano para conseguir una buena comida!

Detecté que a los españoles les gustan la comida italiana y que sientan que tenían mucho en común con los italianos.

¿Yo? ¡Ha! Podría hacerme gordo en cualquier país. Comimos muy bien. Recuerdo que despues de una comida especialmente maravillosa tuvimos que sentarnos en un banco por una hora así que podríamos salir, andando como patos.