Discussion of Altamura bread baking
Altamura bread is from the very south of Italy, near the heel of the boot. It is famous in Italy as one of the finest and oldest types of
bread in the country and is a protected name within the European Union. I developed this recipe from one in
the Il Fornaio Baking Book, by Franco Galli.
Just looking at the list of ingredients and the proportions will give most bakers a serious case of the "It'll-Never-Works." However, the semolina and the biga
work with the flour to yield a dough that, while sticky, isn't tenaciously so. In other words, it works.
Recipe
Biga
| Ingred |
Ounces |
Grams |
| HK Flour |
10 |
285 |
| Water |
6 |
170 |
| Dry Yeast |
1/4 tsp |
1 |
Dough
| Ingred |
Ounces |
Grams |
| Biga |
1/4 Cup |
65 |
| Warm Water |
4 |
115 |
| HK Flour |
6 |
170 |
| Semolina |
5.5 |
140 |
| Dry Yeast |
1 tsp |
5 ml |
| Salt |
1.25 tsp |
9 |
| Cool Water |
4 |
115 |
| Ex Vg Olive Oil |
1 Tbsp |
15 |
Galli's original recipe calls for
- 1/4 cup / 2 3/8 ounces / 65 grams of biga, at, I assume, 60%.
- 1/2 cup / 4 ounces / 115 gms warm water
- 1 1/2 cups bread flour. He specifies 4 ounces / 113 grams per cup in an appendix. This would give 6 ounces / 170 grams.
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon semolina. I measured a cup of semolina and got 5 ounces / 140 grams. Adding the tablespoon brought it to 5 1/2 ounces / 155 grams.
- 1 1/4 teaspoon / .3 ounces / 9 grams / 6 ml salt (Confusing, eh.)
- 1/2 cup / 4 ounces / 115 gms cool water.
- 1 Tablespoon / 1/2 ounce / 15 grams extra virgin olive oil.
Method
- Mix all ingredients together, knead the dough by hand for 20 minutes, on a lightly floured surface. Let the dough rest for 1 or 2 minutes several times during kneading. You can use a large stand mixer to mix the dough. In this case, mix for 6 minutes.
- Rub a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover and let the dough rise for 1 hour. Fold the dough. Let rise for 45 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a ball, but do not overwork the dough.
- Spread a thick layer of flour on the counter, place the ball of dough in it, rough side down, and let it rise, covered for 50-60 minutes.
- Slash the dough in 5 places, 1/2 inch / 12 mm deep and 2 1/2 inches / 65 cm long.
- Bake at 425 F / 220 C with steam for 40-50 minutes.
Here We Go!
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