The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Tartine country loaf

Cuisine Fiend's picture
Cuisine Fiend

Tartine country loaf

I can't believe I haven't tried this before - Tartine is indeed the tastiest simple country sourdough. 'Simple' not at all in a patronising way, after all sourdough can ALWAYS go wrong for no reason, at least in my experience. Simple in the way of the three basic ingredients: flour water and salt, without seeds or whole grains or malted flakes.

My recipe is here on my website: Tartine country bread. I must admit I haven't got Robertson's book; I've swiped the method off NY Times Cooking. The one-day process is perfectly fine, with levain prepared the night before, but I've since tried it with cold autolysing overnight and cold proof over another night. I've also tried replacing the wholemeal flour in the main dough with rye. What can I say? It only gets better!

 Tartine

Comments

SusanMcKennaGrant's picture
SusanMcKennaGrant

Very nice!

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

great crumb.  well done

Leslie

Cuisine Fiend's picture
Cuisine Fiend

thank you!

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

The crumb looks great, and I also am a fan of the Tartine bread. After my wife complained of the taste of rice flour (which is a godsend for bannetons to prevent sticking), however, I took to using a pastry brush on my finished loaves to brush off whatever loose rice flour there might be.  Seems to improve the look of the loaf as well as prevent too much ingestion of rice flour. Wondering whether anyone else does this too.  Anyway, not a criticism of your baking; merely the photo reminded me. Your bread looks yummy.

Cuisine Fiend's picture
Cuisine Fiend

although I can't say I can actually taste the rice flour - your wife must be very sensitive to it. But you're absolutely right, flour should be brushed off the loaf. Tartine is a bit tricky to do that confidently because its high hydration makes the proofed dough wobbly.

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

The brushing occurs after the bake when the loaf has cooled a bit.  I agree that trying to brush off rice flour before putting the loaf into the oven would be tricky.

Cuisine Fiend's picture
Cuisine Fiend

Well, indeed. Still, pre-oven brushing doable on firmer loaves.