Telera (Spanish bread)

Telera is a traditional bread of Andalusia in southern Spain, associated especially with the area around Cordoba. It is made from wheat flour, sourdough, water, salt and yeast, and it belongs to the family of Spanish candeal breads, a group of dense, fine-crumbed loaves with a long history in Andalusia, Extremadura and the two Castiles that are made from durum wheat. Its most recognisable feature is the shape of the crust, which is scored with two deep diagonal cuts so that it looks like the montera, the traditional hat of a bullfighter. Folk etymology reads the name as a contraction of tres hileras, meaning three rows, because the cuts divide the crust into three bands, although other writers link it to the plough crossbar called a telera in Spanish. In Andalusian kitchens the loaf is sliced for the classic breakfast of bread with young olive oil and sugar, and day-old telera is the preferred bread for making salmorejo, the thick cold tomato soup of Cordoba.