Arizmendi Bakery Breadsticks
We spent the month of November in northern California, where we lived for 15 years. In SF for Thanksgiving with long long time friends, we stopped at one of the Arizmendi Bakeries [1] that dot the bay area. Among other delectables, we picked up their Sesame Semolina Jalapeño Cheese breadsticks, which we both fell for immediately. Upon return home my wife asked if I could try to duplicate them. So…
Looking for guidance here on TFL and the other sites, what I mostly saw was what would qualify as Grissini, those tall slender and sometimes gnarly things. I wasn’t interested in those near ubiquitous Skinny Minnies that are posted everywhere, nor those overly cheesy soft things that made a number of appearances as well. No. What I was after was a crisp sesame coated semolina version with some real girth to it. The idea being to come as close to duplicating those treasured batons that we picked up in SF.
I relied on Jeffery Hamelman’s "Semolina (Durum) Bread" formula as my template, and then modified it to suit. With the swapping out of the olive oil for more water and the addition of the two cheeses and jalapeños, this was no longer a Hamelman but an Alfanso with the nod to Mr. H. This is a dough that uses an aggressive sponge, ready in 75 minutes in my 78-80dF kitchen.
At 80g each, the breadsticks baked in a 460dF oven for 13 minutes with steam, 6 additional minutes and then 2 minutes more for venting. And for a first time, I did not remove the parchment paper from under the dough. Too delicate and messy to bother with.
The Arizmendi breadstick, the real deal, exhibits both a pronounced cheese flavor as well as at the bite of the jalapeño in the back of the mouth. I’m not quite there yet in either department, but the first inklings of the stronger taste are just beginning to show through. Still have some work to do.
Here is the formula normalized to 1000g, which is what I used for this bake.
Semolina Cheddar Jalapeño breadsticks with sponge | |||||||||
Jeffrey Hamelman, mod by alfanso | |||||||||
Total Flour | |||||||||
Prefermented | 40.00% | ||||||||
AP Flour | 20.00% | ||||||||
Total Dough Weight (g) | 1000 | Semolina | 20.00% | ||||||
Total Formula | Sponge | Final Dough | |||||||
Ingredients | % | Grams | % | Grams | Ingredients | Grams | |||
Total Flour | 100.00% | 509.7 | 100.00% | 203.9 | Final Flour | 305.8 | |||
AP Flour | 50.00% | 254.8 | 50% | 101.9 | AP Flour | 152.9 | |||
Semolina | 50.00% | 254.8 | 50% | 101.9 | Semolina | 152.9 | |||
Water | 69.00% | 351.7 | 70% | 142.7 | Water | 209.0 | |||
Salt | 1.80% | 9.2 | Salt | 9.2 | |||||
IDY | 0.40% | 2.0 | 1% | 2.0 | IDY | 0.0 | |||
Sugar | 2.00% | 10.2 | 5% | 10.2 | Sugar | 0.0 | |||
EV Olive Oil | 0.00% | 0.0 | EV Olive Oil | 0.0 | |||||
sharp Cheddar Cheese | 7.50% | 38.2 | Cheddar Cheese | 38.2 | |||||
Parmesan Cheese | 7.50% | 38.2 | Parmesan Cheese | 38.2 | |||||
finely chopped Jalapeño | 8.00% | 40.8 | Jalapeño | 40.8 | |||||
Sponge | 358.8 | ||||||||
Totals | 196.20% | 1000.0 | 176% | 358.8 | 1000.0 | ||||
Total time: ~5.5 Hours. | |||||||||
Finely grate both cheeses Mix all sponge ingredients well. Will ripen in 75 min. (in a 78-80dF kitchen). CONCURRENTLY... | |||||||||
Autolyse final dough flours and water | |||||||||
Combine the sponge and autolyse and hand mix well. Add salt and hand mix again. | |||||||||
75 French Folds, then a 5 minute rest. | |||||||||
Add cheese and jalapeno and hand mix to incorporate. And a final 75 FFs more. | And a final 75 FFs more. | ||||||||
Bulk rise 90 min with one fold at 45 min.. | |||||||||
Divide into 80g pieces. Rest 15-20 min. and final shape ~14-17 in. long. | |||||||||
Roll in wet towel and then in sesame seeds. | |||||||||
Onto couche, final rise 60 min. | |||||||||
Preheat oven 480dF. | |||||||||
Bake at 460dF with steam. | |||||||||
13 minutes, remove steam, 6 minutes more. Then vent for 2 minutes with oven off. | |||||||||
During our absence our friend house/dog sat. Upon our return I asked her which bread she’d like me to make for her. She opened my looseleaf and while blindly flipping pages stopped on the Phillipe Gosselin Baguettes, levain version. I have rarely made this in the 4 or so years since my first foray. but as the lady asks, the dude abides.
M. Gosselin is another luminary boulanger in Paris, another who, I believe, also won the annual competition for best baguette in Paris. The formula that I use was posted on TFL by David Snyder [2] back in 2012. And as you can see, these make for explosive oven spring and a quite open crumb.