April 25, 2022 - 10:06am
Help figuring out the recipe for this bread
My neighbors’ son comes by to see his parents on some days. I was lucky enough to be given some of his freshly made bread that in my opinion is the best bread I’ve ever had. I asked him couple times for the recipe and he said he’d give it to me but has never happened yet. I feel bad for asking all the time that’s why I came on here to ask for your help.
Background: he said it’s a Sicilian bread that his mother used to make all the time. It’s covered in sesame seeds and the crust is thin but get super crispy when reheated. The crumb is also very light. The crust also flakes so easily. I think it’s such a delicate bread
I’d be forever thankful if anyone can give me any info about this!
Share
Have you seen this?
https://breadtopia.com/sicilian-no-knead-bread/
Of which here is one recipe when doing a Google search. The semolina flour to use would be semola rimacinata but if you can't find any it can be substituted with fine semolina.
Usually it's in the form of a fat batard, covered all over with sesame seeds, and a thin crisp crust. Sometimes the interior is more yellow because of the proportion of semolina flour that's used. I've eaten this bread for over 50 years all over New York; it's a classic and very delicious. Personally I've had good luck recreating it using the recipe for Tom Cat's Semolina Filone recipe from Maggie Glezer's book "Artisan Breads". The Tom Cat bakery in Queens still produces wonderful semolina bread amongst others, and is available at various retailers in the NYC area.
Some bakers seem reluctant to share their recipes, i don't understand why, for me its part of the camaraderie of the baking fraternity and a big tick of approval when someone is acknowledging your product. There is a whole lot more than just the recipe of course to arrive at the desired outcome and i am immensely satisfied when someone has followed your recipe/formula and comes back to you and says that their family were blown away with their rendition.
Derek
A cute story, but you can safely skip to the next comment:
When we lived elsewhere, we hosted an annual "Hot and Spicy Potluck". This was in a country whose residents were not used to spicy food. Every year, our local friends looked forward to it with a fun and adventurous spirit.
One couple brought the same extraordinary Hot and Sour Soup every year. They told everyone that the recipe had been passed down from the ancients through her grandmother, to her. Everyone clamored for the recipe. Every year the couple promised to share it. It never materialized.
Finally, one year they relented and brought the soup (as always) and the recipe. They put the recipe in small envelopes, which they passed around. We opened our envelope, and the recipe said:
1. Call: "xxx phone number"
2. When someone answers, ask for #47 from the menu, family size.
3. Drive to "yyy address".
4. Transfer the soup from the take-out container to your favorite tureen.
They confessed that they were not confident as cooks, but didn't want to miss out on the potluck. It was all in good fun, and nobody minded. With all the interesting foods prepared by people who were not used to making them, it was good to have an "anchor" dish that everyone could trust.