Images(5)

Trough, Dough

Object number2014.12.1

Made by Pietro Loria

MediumWood

Credit LineGift of Mary Jane and Vittorio Pugliano in honor of Pietro & Margherita Loria.

DescriptionRectangular wooden dough trough.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 9.375 × 16.125 × 8.5 × 29.5 in. (23.8 × 41 × 21.6 × 74.9 cm)
Historical NotesHandmade wooden majilla (sometimes spelled madia) used for mixing and kneading dough for bread. This item was crafted by Mary Jane (nee Loria) Pugliano's father, Pietro Loria, for his wife, Margherita. Margherita, an Italian immigrant from Mattera in Basilicata, desired to make bread in her home in Pittsburgh similar to how she was taught in her ancestral village. Her husband, an immigrant from San Giovanni in Fiore in Calabria, acquired the proper dimensions and constructed a majilla (madia) that could produce enough dough to make 20 loaves of bread. The Loria's majilla (madia) is representative of how Italian immigrants assimilated and adapted traditions. It was commonplace in Italy for villages to have a communal wood burning oven, called a forno, which the local community could use to bake bread. Families would have a majilla (madia) in the home and women would mix, knead, and allow the dough to rise under cloth cover in the box. The wood was left untreated so that it may soak up the excess water from the dough, preserving valuable ingredients.

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