Tag Archives: pre-ferment

Pugliese

Posted on April 7, 2010 | Leave a comment

Apulia, or Pugliese in English, is the heel off the Italian boot. It is the most productive agricultural plain in all of Italy. And from these plains grows the durum wheat used to make traditional Pugliese. It is a very wet dough, comparable to ciabatta, but slightly more dense.

This is not a quick bread to make. The hour and a half of flouring and folding is time-consuming but without it, it just wouldn’t be Pugliese! I used bread flour exclusively for this recipe as I didn’t have a close source for fancy durum wheat. This bread showed me the necessity for being able to properly make a boule. The softness of the dough makes it want to succumb to gravity more readily than a lesser hydrated dough. I made one in a banneton and the other simply on a floured peel. Interestingly, both turned out the same shape! I baked one of the loaves a bit longer than the other giving it a marvelous deep caramel colour. What I didn’t expect was the crackling that occurred when I took it out of the oven. The crust began to fissure and made quite a pronounced snapping sound! Note that these loaves do indeed soften as they cool. The taste is a nutty soft texture with a chewy crunchy crust. Viva Italia!

: Pugliese

: Pugliese loaf with cracks in the crust

: Pugliese, cut. Notice the dark crumbs from cutting the bread.

French Country Bread – Pain de Campagne

Posted on January 11, 2010 | Leave a comment

I found this recipe attractive for two reasons: first, because it used a portion of whole grain flour and second, because it could be shaped easily. As a child, my grandfather used to bring back epi loaves from a bakery in Miami. I remember being fascinated by the pointy rolls all stuck together. 30 years later, I’m still fascinated by all those pointed rolls stuck together! It is a very visually pleasing shape and one not readily found.

As far as the dough goes, I was glad to see that it was more manageable than the pain a l’ancienne. It has umpf! This made it much easier to shape than any of the other recipes I’ve tried so far. Admittedly, the smaller loaves did not turn out as expected. The braided loaf seemed to melt all together and the round couronne, well, wasn’t a crowning achievement. So I cheated! Since I didn’t press down hard enough with the dowel or use enough flour, the creases never stayed separated. So, just before baking, I made cuts with a serrated knife. Not the look that was intended, but it worked out in the end.

: Mixing the pre-ferment with the dugh.

: The window pane test.

: The dough is reading for its ferment

: The dough after the ferment

: Small braided loaf

: Couronne

: Couronne close up

: Baguette

: Couronne and braided loaf

: Couronne close up

: Epi

: Epi close up

Focaccia

Posted on January 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

Where do I start?!? This was truly a labour of love. First let’s talk abut the poolish. Poolish, by the way, is the type of starter used in this recipe. It was named for the Polish immigrants who brought this pre-ferment to France in the mid nineteenth century. This was made the previous day. So two things that I didn’t like about this recipe: 1) the time it took to make, and 2) the size of the loaf it made.

It took me the better part of the afternoon to make this recipe. The dough was difficult to handle due to the high ratio of water. It was sticky and viscous. The most annoying part of the process was the hour and half of folding before the hour rest, then the makeup followed by a two hour proof. Whew! For the topping I used some tepenade I had made a few days ago though I’m sure whole olives would have made for a better presentation.

As for the size…holy buckets, it’s HUGE! It filled the entire pan and rose about 2 1/2 inches; slightly unwieldy and unless cut before serving, would fill your table. I would suggest making it in two pans.

All said and done, the texture was like silk with large holes and a distinctive taste contributed by the poolish. Simply delicious but I wonder if it would have been so delicious if it took me 3 hrs instead of 8! Don’t worry, I’ll make it again.

: Focaccia