February 6, 2008 - 7:07am
ISO Portuguese cornbread (not sweet)
I believe that bread I'm looking for is called broa de milho. It is quite crusty on the outside but very moist inside with a dense almost white coloured crumb.
In the thread entitled 'looking for a recipe for Portugese Bread', pumpkinpapa posted a recipe for Broa. I tried replying in that thread but foolishly put the reply deep inside the thread to ensure that it would surely get lost. I hope it's okay that I am reposting my questions.
- Is the cornmeal yellow or white?
- Is the resulting bread quite dense and moist?
- I don't suppose you have a photo of the crust and the crumb, pumpkinpapa?
Many thanks!
-Elizabeth
P.S. A while back, I tried making Portuguese Cornmeal White Bread (Pao A Moda De Sao Miguel) from Gourmet 2000 but it wasn't quite right. The bread was good, just not what I was hoping for.
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Thank you for your reply, Woz.
The slow food article is very interesting, with the note about buckwheat.
I'm not sure that buckwheat is used in the cornbread made by the Brazilian bakery. I think the flours used are corn and wheat.
I took a look at the ingredients list for Broa de Milho and with the help of Google translation, here is the ingredients list on the flickr page.
I do not think that this is the recipe I'm seeking as it has eggs, butter, sugar and Parmesan cheese (!).But I believe that I may have found the recipe here:
Little Compton Mornings: Pao de Milho
Unfortunately, since finding the recipe, I have not yet had a chance to try making it - lack of freezer space and family demand for other kinds of bread. But I do plan to make it soon. I'll be sure to post if it's really the bread I am looking for.
-Elizabeth
Elizabeth,
Have you looked at Bernard Clayton's Complelte Book of Breads? He has a recipe for Broa that sounds very similar to what you are looking for. I made it once (with yellow corn meal, since I had no corn flour). My take was that it tasted pretty much the same as the non-yeasted cornbread that I'm more accustomed to, with the addition of the flavor from the yeast/fermentation. Although it was good, I doubt that I'll make it again, just because the traditional method is much easier and there is so little difference in the flavor.
PMcCool
Thank you for your reply. From the sound of it, Clayton's broa might not be the same one, unless it's quite moist in the crumb.
I THOUGHT I was going to try making Little Compton Morning version tomorrow but apparently a heat wave is coming in again. I can't justify turning the oven on if it's 30C outside....
Eventually, I'll bake this bread!!
-Elizabeth