20200428 Chef Gregoire Michaud's Provencal Fougasse with CLAS

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

Chef Michaud is the founder of Baking Elements and Bakehouse in Hong Kong, and he is also a member of TFL!  You can learn more about him here, here, and here.

This bread is from one of Chef Michaud's books, "La Boulangerie Baking at home". 

I followed Chef Michaud’s overall formula as much as possible, but since my flour could not absorb more water (and I did not push it), I reduced the hydration from 75.7% to 64%. Because CLAS works at higher temperatures, I also reduced the amount of yeast. The whole process took about three hours. My formula is as follows:

Beehive AP (ash .56%) 97%

whole wheat CLAS 3%

water 64%

yeast 0.7%

sugar 0.7%

salt 3%

milk 3%

olive oil 3%

Provence herbs, dried 3%

chopped sundried tomatoes 7%

black olives 4.3%

ham 4.3%

My final dough weighed about a pound and yielded one fougasse. 

When I decided to bake a bread that is not in Rus's collection, I was a bit hesitant. Because for a long time, I didn't need to worry about anything when baking Rus's bread---his formulae are so precise and reliable, the quality of bread is guaranteed as long as I follow his procedures! Rus has definitely spoiled me with his formulae!

However, to explore white bread that suits my family's taste, I must be independent and accustomed to working with CLAS alone. So, here it is,  my first CLAS bread without Rus's "supervision". 

The crispy crust, the savory ingredients, and the aroma of olive oil and Provencal herbs are undoubtedly a delicious combination that one enjoys. Also, there is an invisible flavor enhancer, CLAS, which brings the taste of this bread to another level. CLAS has never let me down!