October 16, 2009 - 11:29am
Pain Rustique from "Bread"
We are having homemade soup tonight for dinner. Since we've been eating a lot of sourdough lately I decided to make Hamelman's Pain Rustique. A unique bread, attributed to the legendary French baker. educator and author, Raymond Calvel, its poolish preferment comprises more than half of the entire dough weight.
Two pounds of poolish, for three-and-a-half pounds of dough!
One gets an interesting shape when the a loaf hangs off the edge of one's too-small-for-three-loaves baking stone.
The crumb: open, firm chewiness.
David G
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That looks amazing! And just PERFECT for mopping up some soup on a wintery (or at least autumny) day.
Great job!
MommaT
This is a lovely bread. Thanks for sharing with us. I hadn't realised this is a Prof. Calvel recipe in Hamelman's Bread (page 111). Thank you. Shiao-Ping
Pain Rustique was formulated originally by Prof. Calvel. I can't remember where I read it, but he is quoted stating Pain Rustique was his favorite bread.
"Breads" particular formula is credited to James MacGuire, tweaked by Hamelman.
Dan Di Muzio steered me to an article James MacGuire wrote for a US publication "The Art of Eating" , 2006, number 73 and 74 (its a double volume). The article is titled "The Baguette" and is a brief bio of Raymond Calvel, and his extensive influence on French bread baking in the 20th century, especially the baguette. It's a great read.
It's available on the internet--just Google "The Art of Eating". It's a bit pricey at $25 USD, plus the cost of mailing. Nonetheless, I recommend it highly to anyone interested in the history of modern bread making.
David G
Great looking bread! Nicely done, David!
Sylvia
Very appealing breads, David!
According to the instructional videos Prof. Calvel made for the CIA (the cooks, not the spooks), this was his "favorite bread." He made it with his regular baguette dough by cutting off chunks from the bulk fermented dough and proofing them with no additional shaping. His preferred way of making baguettes was with pâte fermentée, rather than poolish.
That is not to take anything away from Hamelman. He just does it differently, and I'm sure his way is outstanding.
David
It must have been then I heard the quote I mentioned to Shiao-Ping.
This dough, at least its performance for me, was decidely different than baguette dough made similarly. Perhaps its longer baking time, dictated by the larger mass and box-like shape, was the major contributer. The loose, unshaped dough--I simply cut the bulk proofed dough into three rectangle--also contributes, I think. I cross-checked this formula, with the baguette formula I principally use. They are essentially identical, the pain rustique about 2% wetter.
This bread's crust is thicker, and the crumb noticeably chewier than baguettes. I like it very much.
A comment: I wouldn't have used the word "preferred". I think using old dough is a convenient and common practice among commercial bakers, "preferred" because it saves time, and, therefore, money.
Thank you for your praise.
David G
for your kind words.
A new, larger baking stone is anticipated, under the tree this Christmas. I send my wife the supplier's URL, and our oven's dimensions frequently ;-)
David G
The CIA (the one in Hyde Park, not Langley) made an instruction video with Raymond Calvel when he visited the campus late in his life. He does a step-by-step demo with commentary of his baguette and his pain rustique. CIA sells it as podcast for $4.95, which in my opinion is money well spent. Here is the link:
http://www.ciaprochef.com/fbi/podcasts/BreadAndBaker.html
I find it odd that TFL group does not seem to be aware of this video series.
Best,
Rodger
See my entry above in this topic.
David