Ciabatta (literally "slipper") is an Italian white bread made from wheat flour, water, salt, yeast and olive oil, created in 1982 by Arnaldo Cavallari, a baker in Adria, province of Rovigo, Veneto, Italy, in response to and counteract to the popularity of French baguettes.

Perhaps the most well-known and popular Italian bread, ciabatta has a unique, almost complete plasticity, texture, which makes it possible to do practically anything with it.

Ciabatta is somewhat elongated, broad, and flat, and is baked in many variations, although unique for its alveolar holes. Ciabatta is made with strong flour, full of gluten, and uses a much wetter dough than traditional French bread.

The ciabatta bread was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1985 by Marks & Spencer, then to the United States in 1987 by Orlando Bakery, a Cleveland firm. Three bakers from Italy went to Orlando Bakery to develop the product for mass production. They successfully introduced a fresh bread, and later a frozen version. It was quickly copied and adopted throughout the US.

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