Semolina Sourdough with Fennel, Anise, and Sesame - Tartine Bread
I’ve used semolina in my “weekly” bread for quite a while, but I’ve never done a mostly semolina bread before. Originally this bread only called for fennel…but I didn’t pay attention to HOW MUCH fennel it needed and I didn’t have enough. Necessity is the mother of improvisation in this case so I used anise seed to make up the total weight needed. There was another bread that had the combination of fennel and anise so I figured why not.
This dough was remarkably easy to work with and was a rich golden yellow in color thanks to the semolina. I decided to do a bit of decorative scoring this time which was fun. I think I should do more of that in the future.
Tasting Notes: Delicious. The sesame is very pronounced and the anise / fennel combination is there but not at all overpowering. The increased amount of semolina also results in a VERY crispy crust with a nice chew.
Time/Effort: 3 days (Growing Levain, Mixing Dough, Baking) Normal for sourdough for my process.
Would I make it again: Yes, but with different flavors. Not because the flavor was bad but because I’m curious what other flavors would go well in this bread. The crispness is great and would likely be very good as just a plain sourdough.
Comments
That's a gorgeous loaf of bread! I can imagine you could get quite the punch of licorice between the fennel and the anise, but it sounds like you balanced it well. I too often use a portion of semolina or durum in my loaves as it brings such a nice, warm depth with just a hint of sweet. The crumb looks really nice and the scoring is really beautiful! Great bake...thanks for sharing this!
Lovely scoring Steven. I love a good semolina bread and I like using 100% myself to maximize the flavour. Sesame seeds are always great with semolina.
Benny
Inside and out. I like to use sesame and anise together, but I've never tried fennel seeds in bread (because it seemed too strong). Glad to hear it wasn't, though. Will have to try it.