The Fresh Loaf

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Pane Montanaro from "The Splendid Table"

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Pane Montanaro from "The Splendid Table"

Modena Mountain Bread

Pane Montanaro

from

The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food

by

Lynn Rossetto Kasper

 

The Splendid Table is a wonderful book for anyone who loves to prepare and eat Italian food, as I do. Others apparently agree, as it won both the James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year award and the IACP Cookbook of the Year award. The author's aim was to collect and preserve the culinary heritage of this region before it disappears due to the encroachment of modern industrial food production and the accelerated pace of modern life. The book has a chapter on breads of the region, which is very interesting. This recipe was the one that appealed to me. Most of the other breads she described have been included in other books I already have, such as Carol Field's The Italian Baker. And when she introduces the recipe by writing, “If I could make only one bread for the rest of my life, it would be this loaf.” How could I not make it, at least once?

Ms. Kasper reports that, until quite recently, most homemade breads in Emilia-Romagna were made with what we would call pâte fermentée (a piece of dough saved from the prior day's baking. The Italian term for this is pasta di riporto, or “dough that is carried over.”) However, all her bread recipes are made with a yeasted pre-ferment she calls a “sponge,” which is equivalent to a French poolish, actually.

After consideration of various approaches, I decided to make this bread with a biga naturale, figuring that would be closer to the original bread than Ms. Kasper's recipe. I kept the proportion of pre-fermented flour and the total dough hydration the same. I would assume that, in the past, a higher extraction flour or even whole wheat flour predominated. For this first bake, I kept to Ms. Kasper's formula. Pretty much. I did increase the percentage of whole wheat flour a bit. I have also modified her procedures somewhat. For example, I do an autolyse, specify a shorter mix and add a Stretch and Fold during bulk fermentation.

I converted the “English” weights Ms. Kasper provides to grams, calculated the bakers' percentages (after my slight modifications in proportions and switch in pre-ferments) and scaled the formula to make a one kilogram loaf.

 

Total Dough

Wt. (g)

Bakers %

All purpose flour

440

80

Whole wheat flour

110

20

Water

275

50

Red-skinned potatoes

110

20

Wheat berries

55

10

Salt

11

2

Total

1001

182

Pre-fermented flour = 27% of total flour

 

Biga Naturale

Wt. (g)

Bakers %

DMS Sourdough feeding mix*

175

100

Water (100ºF)

87

50

Firm (50% hydration) starter

35

20

Total

297

170

  1. Dissolve the firm starter in the water. Add the flours and mix thoroughly.

  2. Cover tightly and ferment at room temperature for 12-16 hours.

* My sourdough feeding mix is 70% AP, 20%WW and 10% Whole or medium rye flour.

 

Final Dough

Wt. (g)

All purpose flour

265

Whole wheat flour

110

Red-skinned potatoes

110

Wheat berries

55

Salt

11

Potato water

188

Biga naturale

262

Total

1001

Procedures

  1. Boil the unpeeled potatoes in water to cover until very tender. Cool and peel.

  2. Reserve 188g of the water in which the potatoes were boiled, cooled to room temperature, and purée the potatoes in it. (I mashed the potatoes with a fork, added the reserved water and stirred.) Reserve.

  3. Put the wheat berries in a sauce pan and cover well with water. Bring it to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain and cool. Use a blender, food processor or mortar and pestle to lightly crush the berries. Set aside at room temperature.

  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the potato purée, whole wheat flour and the all purpose flour. Mix at low speed for a couple minutes to combine the ingredients well. Cover the bowl and let it stand for 20-60 minutes. (Autolyse)

  5. Switch to the dough hook. Add the salt and the biga and mix at Speed 2 to achieve good gluten development (about 6 minutes). The dough should clean the sides and the most of the bottom of the mixer bowl. It should be elastic but still soft and tacky.

  6. Add the wheat berries to the bowl and mix at Speed 1 for 1 to 2 minutes to distribute the berries evenly. If needed, transfer the dough to a lightly floured board and knead an additional minute or so to better distribute the berries.

  7. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly.

  8. Ferment at room temperature until the dough has increased to 2.5 to 3 times the original volume (2-3 hours). Do a Stretch and Fold at 1 hour. (It was 68ºF in my kitchen – a bit cool – and the fermentation was moving slowly, so, after an hour, I put the dough in my proofing box, with the temperature set at 76ºF.)

  9. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board and pre-shape round. Cover the dough with a towel and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.

  10. Shape the dough as a boule and proof at room temperature on a peel coated with polenta, on a linen couche or in a lined banneton. Cover with a towel or place in a plastic bag. Proof fully (until doubled in volume). This should take about 90 minutes. Note: Kasper calls for proofing on the peel. The other options (couche or banneton) are my suggestions.

  11. 45-60 minutes before baking, pre-heat your oven to 480ºF with a baking stone and your steaming apparatus in place.

  12. Transfer the loaf to a peel. Turn down the oven to 400ºF. Steam the oven. Transfer the loaf to your baking stone. Note: Kasper does not mention scoring the loaf. With the very full proof, this may not be needed, as there will be less oven spring than in a less fully proofed loaf. (For this first bake, I proofed the loaf to the point that a finger poke resulted in the dough springing back very slowly. I chose to score the loaf with a simple cross, and got exuberant oven spring.)

  13. After 15 minutes, remove the steaming apparatus. Continue baking for another 45-60 minutes or until the loaf is fully baked. (The loaf sounds hollow when thumped on its bottom. The internal temperature is at least 205ºF.) Note: If you have a convection oven, after the first 15 minutes, you can switch to convection-bake and reduce the oven temperature setting 25ºF. This will result in a crisper crust and more even browning.

  14. Remove the loaf to a cooling rack and cool completely (90-120 minutes) before slicing.

 

Note: My wife's persimmon cookies photobombed my crumb photo!

The crust developed some nice crackles. It was very crunchy, and when you bite into a wheat berry you get a pronounced nutty flavor hit! Yum! The crumb is not as soft as expected and rather chewy. A shorter mix next time, perhaps. The wheat berries within the crumb are nice and chewy. The flavor of the crust was sweet and nutty. The crumb was wheatier than expected, given the low percentage of whole wheat. Perhaps the wheat berries contribute more flavor than expected. I think I would still increase the percentage of whole wheat the next time I bake this bread. The bread was moderately sour.

This is a delicious bread, and I expect it will be even better tomorrow. I think it's a keeper! I'll be making it again.

Happy Baking!

David

Submitted to yeastspotting

Comments

nmygarden's picture
nmygarden

I bet it smells great. Looking forward to more pics and hearing your thoughts, David. Very successful bake!

Cathy

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I believe it was a success. There are enough "opportunities for improvement" to warrant another, modified bake, though. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to breakfast and trying this bread toasted.

David

ANNA GIORDANI's picture
ANNA GIORDANI

Ora leggo tutto con calma, mi documento bene e poi cerco di riprodurlo anche se la vedo dura riuscire a farlo buono come il tuo....quando uno ama così tanto la gastronomia Italiana è sicuramente premiato nei risultati.

Bravo David

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

If you make this bread, please share your results.

David

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

wait to mess with it some.  We love the potatoes, potato water and whole wheat berry scald (mushed a little) that make the bread an overall 30% whole grain - so it is healthy and hearty.  Love the bold bake and the open crumb.  Like your method changes to the original recipe too.  Well done and

Happy Baking David. 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I almost sent Lucy a text to be sure she saw this, but I didn't have her cell phone number. :-(

David

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

For a 2nd class baking apprentice, she sure is worldly beyond her years and smarter than she was bred.....eeeerrrrr.....bread to be:-)

Syd's picture
Syd

Another beauty David!  I can almost taste the flavor in that crust.  Would so love a bite now.  No decent bread on hand and no time to bake at present.  

Keep well David,

Syd

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

It's nice to hear from you! I wish I could send you some time, so you could bake. 

This bread shows promise but, the more I think about it, the longer the list of modifications in the formula and procedures gets. 

David

 

CAphyl's picture
CAphyl

David:  I love to listen to The Splendid Table on NPR.  Lynn is a great cook; I did not know she was a baker as well.  I might have to get this book.

Nice Italian baking. We have to work on our Italian for Anna.  You are way ahead of me with your Italian lessons.  I am of Italian descent on my father's side, but only remember a few words.  My uncle was just visiting; he is fluent and would have loved this bread.  I did bake him a sourdough loaf with rye and spelt, however.  I will do a blog when I am back in my CA kitchen and have better internet.  Look forward to seeing more of your posts.  Best, Phyllis

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The text of your message got lost by TFL, but I go it in the e-mail notification. Very bizarre.

If you make my version of this bread, here are a few caveats:

1. Make sure the wheat berries are well-cooked (boiled). I boiled them 10 minutes by the clock without tasting them. They were too chewy.

2. The bread is supposed to be dense. I seldom make such low-hydration breads. This bread really needs a full bulk fermentation. I would shoot for a 2.5X increase in volume.

3. I would proof more fully next time.

As a matter of personal choice, I would increase the percentage of whole wheat flour.

Happy baking!

David

Song Of The Baker's picture
Song Of The Baker

Nice loaf David!  Love the bloom you got.  Really exploded didn't it??  I am itching to get baking soon and adding in some wheat/rye/spelt berries.  Still have an unopened package from a year and half ago!

Your loaves always remind me of those San Fran bakeries and restaurants.  Something about the crust you achieve...dang.

John

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Yeah. It exploded. That was not expected. I'm sure glad I decided to score it, so the explosion was, at least, directed. I've not made that many very low-hydration loaves, and, I guess, they are a different creature.

As I stated already a couple times, I have a list of things to do differently, if I make this one again.

David

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Mouthwatering boule, as always David. I like the idea of grinding cooked wheat and using that in dough. 

Khalid

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David

Kiseger's picture
Kiseger

again!!  I look forward to your experiments with this one, I can imagine it would have more open crumb with higher hydration, although the crumb looks great for the hydration here.  I wonder if you soaked the potatoes for a few hours to reduce the starch before cooking, whether this wouldn't result in an airier crumb?  You really got an amazing bloom, it's just beautiful!  

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The potatoes are of the waxy type, not that starchy. Potato starch softens the crumb. I'm not sure how it effects alveolar formation.

The bloom was excessive, in my opinion. I think, in hindsight, the loaf was under-proofed. But I'm glad you like it. ;-)

David

Brokeback Cowboy's picture
Brokeback Cowboy

Love the recipe and the story behind the bread. These regional specialties don't escape to North America enough. You go girl!

Fairview Cowboy

Brokeback Cowboy's picture
Brokeback Cowboy

Boil the potatoes in heavily salted water and discard it afterwards using fresh water in place of the starchy water. The flavor of the potatoes as well as texture will be significantly improved.

Happy Baking