Real Italian ciabatta vs. American artisan ciabatta
Okay, someone please tell me how to get true, authentic Italian ciabatta? I lived in Naples Italy for a year and I fell in love with the breads of the region. I make a very respectable using Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Bakers Apprentice" recipe. The crust and color are picture perfect. The crumb is full of holes just like the picture but..........the texture is really lacking to what I remember. In Italy, we would buy day old bread because it seemed to have much more flavor and the texture would soak up all the great ragu's my mother in law would make. Here is the rub, mine(and other's from artisan and professional bakers here) do not come close to what I remember. My texture turns to crumbs(crumbly) after about a day despite trying everything(from more or less oil, to changing my flour(even artisan flour from "King Arthur's), to times for proofing and temps for baking). What is the secret? I'm driving myself NUTS! Somebody help!