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}}</ref> Generously sprinkled with sesame seeds before baking, ''ka'ak'' may be still purchased in the streets of Arab and Israeli cities.
Let's go back to the Apennine Peninsula. It was in the ports of Apulia, a region of southern Italy, that ''taralli'' were being boiled and baked as early as the 14th century. That's right, it's a kind of bread that is first boiled and only then baked. Why? Because when the starch on the surface of the dough comes into contact with boiling water, it gets gelatinized, giving the ''tarallo'' its shiny and crunchy crust. The stiffened crust also prevents the dough from rising further during baking, which helps keep the bread in shape. And this, in turn, means that you can make bigger ring-shaped breads than you could without boiling them first.<ref>Balinska, ''op. cit.'', p. 2–6</ref> Clever, huh?
[[File:Ponti, Carlo (ca. 1823-1893) - Venditore.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.5|A boy peddling ''ciambelle'' in 19th-century Italy]]
