Now what about the flavour?
(Apologies in advance if there are already great threads on this topic somewhere, but I haven't found much in my limited trawls through the forum archives.)
I'm happy with my crumb. I'm happy with my crust. Now, I'm just looking for more flavour.
No artisan or obsessive, I'm nevertheless passionate. I've been making simple breads for a few years, and am mostly devoted to simply white breads with open crumb and thick crust. I use recipes a lot like Floyd's Daily Bread, or variations on the NYT NKB. Poolish. Autolyse. Dry yeast.
So, happy are the days when I'm baking, and the results are mostly what I intend, with a little less steam and a softer crust for my Flame-Haired Angel, and a little more and a little crunchier for me.
And yet... And yet...
I'm just not getting the depth of flavour that I'm yearning for. The bread is good, but I've spent the last three years living in France, and the daily white breads from the better boulangeries in my neighbourhood just had a wonderful, yeasty, deep flavour and aroma to them. Nothing overwhelming, and certainly nothing that comes from having been flavoured with anything.
I no longer live in Paris. One of the up-sides is that I'm baking more. But now, if I'm going to get that flavour, I've gotta do it myself.
Any thoughts on how I might pursue a richer aroma and flavour in a simple French yeast loaf?
Thanks, in advance, for all ideas.