Is There a Nutmeg in the House? (37 page)

Always let the bread cool on a wire rack or grid, so that air circulates round it.

When the loaf is cool, wrap it in a clean cloth or put it in a bread crock or enamelled bin. Plastic boxes soften the crust.

Variations on the Basic Bread Recipe: A Quickly Made Loaf

Once you know how to make bread, you find that there are many variations on the basic method. You can, for example, get up quite late in the morning and still bake a fresh loaf in time for lunch.

For this method, I used a slightly smaller tin than usual.

Procedure: measure out 250 g (½ lb) of strong plain flour and 125 g (4 oz) of 85% or 90% wheatmeal. Have your 15 g (½ oz) yeast ready, and make it into the usual cream with a little tepid water. Put 20 g (¼ oz) of pounded
gros sel
into your measuring jug. Cover it with a little
very hot
water so that it dissolves. Add enough tepid water to make up 250 ml (8 fl oz).

Stir the yeast into the flour in the usual way. Add the water, mix the dough very quickly, and do not knead very much.

Put the dough straight into the greased and floured tin. Sprinkle the top with flour, cover it and leave it on top of the stove to rise as usual, but turning your oven a little higher – say to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 – for about an hour (although the timing can vary from 45 minutes to 1½ hours according to outside climatic conditions), and the dough will have risen to the top of the tin. Turn the oven to 230°C/450°F/gas mark 8 and when it has been heating for 15 minutes, put the bread in to bake as usual.

Although the quantity of dough is less than for the basic recipe, the baking time is the same or even slightly longer, because a loaf made with only one turn of rising and very little kneading must be very thoroughly baked.

Bread made by this method may have a few holes in the texture. It will be very good while fresh, but will not keep so well as a loaf made by the orthodox method.

Quite often when I come home from my shop in the evening, I find it possible to make, by this method, a quick loaf for a late supper or for next day’s sandwich lunch.

A Loaf Made by the Extra Slow Method

Sometimes it may be convenient to prolong rather than to hurry the rising of your bread dough. Nothing is easier.

Use the quantities and the mixing method given in the basic recipe,
page 223
. Instead of leaving the dough in a warm place to rise, put it in a well-covered bowl in a cool spot, for example, near an open window in an unheated room. There are those who advocate the refrigerator for a still slower method. The dough can now be left for 8 to 10 hours. When it is fully risen, it will be unusually light and spongy. It must be very thoroughly knocked down and kneaded for rather longer than usual before it is put, as in the basic method, into the ready-prepared tin to rise for the second time.

By the slowed-up method, the second raising of the dough will also take a little longer than usual. To speed matters – and also to improve the appearance of the loaf – two or three deep slanting cuts can be made in the dough. For this purpose, there is a special utensil called a Scotch scraper or dough-cutter – a wide-bladed curved-edge knife similar to the instrument used by butchers to scrape their meat-chopping blocks. Failing this, the crescent-shaped chopping knife, nowadays sold with a wooden chopping bowl in every kitchen utensil shop, will serve the purpose.

The rest of the preparations and the baking of this loaf are as for the basic method.

The slowed-up system produces an excellent, well-grown
^*
loaf with good keeping qualities.

First published in
Queen
, 4 December 1968

The Baking of an English Loaf
was subsequently published as a booklet by Elizabeth David in 1969, and reprinted several times. In 1973 Elizabeth signed the contract with Penguin Books for
Baking your Loaf
, intended as the second volume of
ENGLISH COOKING
,
ANCIENT AND MODERN
. This was the title we had conceived for what was to be her new series of quite short books on English food, which started with
Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen
. The book took three years to write, instead of the one originally envisaged, as she explored baking in great depth. Published in 1977 as
English Bread and Yeast Cookery
, the book sold out on publication as thousands of people took to bread making. Restaurants also improved the quality of the bread they offered and the appreciation of and demand for good bread had changed for ever in Britain.

JN

SALTED AND SPICED BREAD STRIPS OR RIBBONS

This is a very easy, light bread dough, and the system of dividing it into strips or ribbon shape before baking results in a most original form of roll, very convenient for a party, as it is quickly baked and needs no slicing at table.

To make about 3 dozen strips, quantities are 500 g (1 lb) of white flour (ordinary plain can be used), 15 g (½ oz or 1 scant
tablespoon) of yeast, 450 ml (¾ pint) of milk, 30 g (1 oz) of butter, 2 teaspoons of salt. For adding to the dough after the first rising: 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds, cumin seeds or caraway seeds, whichever you prefer. For strewing over the ribbons before baking: extra salt, preferably in coarse crystal form, and a few more seeds, and for brushing the dough, a little milk.

Put the flour and salt into a bowl. Stir in the yeast, then the warm milk and butter. Mix to a fairly firm, smooth and flexible dough. Cover and leave to rise for about an hour, or until at least doubled in volume, and very puffy and light. Knock the dough down, knead it a little, working in the warmed seeds as you do so. Divide it into two equal portions. Press each of these out flat on a floured board or baking sheet (if you have a non-stick one, it is just the thing for this type of dough), then with a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle, as neatly and evenly shaped as you can manage.

Repeat the process with the second portion of dough. If your rectangles of dough have been rolled out on a board, transfer them to a floured baking sheet. With a sharp knife, make one cut right through the centre of each rectangle, from one side to the other. Then, working from top to bottom cut long strips, about 2.5 cm (1 in) in width, so that the whole rectangle is literally cut to ribbons, but left in its original shape.

Brush the ribbons with milk, scatter a few more seeds over them, and add a good sprinkling of coarse salt (Maldon salt in flakes is especially successful for the purpose, but crystals of sea or rock salt will also serve very well.)

Leave the dough to recover its spring. This will take about 15–30 minutes.

Have the oven heated to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 and bake the ribbons on the centre shelf for 15 minutes, and for another 5 on the lowest shelf.

By the time the ribbons are cooked, they will have puffed up, expanded and almost re-joined themselves into one rectangle of bread; they are however easily broken apart, and can be piled lightly on to a dish or in a basket. They are delicious while still warm, with soft mild cheeses, and with rough red wine.

Notes

1. 1. Of the three seeds specified – fennel, cumin and caraway – my own preference is for fennel. Cumin comes second, caraway last (I think that it is the hardness of caraway seeds which I find off-putting, rather than the flavour or the aroma.) Aniseed is a fourth possibility, and one which I have not yet explored. Poppy seeds or sesame seeds could be tried, although for me they are too sweet for this type of bread.
   
2. 2. Delicious hot cheese sandwiches can be made with bread ribbons. Simply slit them and insert a finger of melting cheese such as Port Salut, Gruyère, or Bel Paese into each, heat them on the lowest shelf of a very moderate oven, 170°C/325°F/gas mark 3, for about 10 minutes.
   
3. 3. This milk and butter dough is a particularly good-tempered one, and if you prefer to cook half the batch only and leave the rest for later on, simply break it down, knead it into a ball, leave it in its bowl, put this in a cool place, and the dough will be just as good several hours later.
   

Written for
English Bread and Yeast Cookery
, but not included

CHEESE AND DILL STICKS

A richer, puffier dough than the one used for salted and spiced ribbons, and a really excellent confection to offer with the white wine which so many of us now drink as an aperitif instead of spirits or vermouth.

For the first trial, make a small quantity as follows: 250 g (½ lb) strong plain flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, 7 g (¼ oz) of yeast, 125 g (4 oz) of butter, 6 tablespoons of cream, 3 teaspoons of dill seeds, 60–90 g (2–3 oz) of a soft melting cheese such as Bel Paese, Port Salut or Gruyère, a little extra cream for brushing the dough.

Put the flour and salt in a bowl, cream the yeast with a little water. Warm the butter until it is quite soft. Rub it into the flour. Add the creamed yeast, then mix to a light dough with the warmed cream. Form it into a ball, cover and leave to rise until it is light and puffy, and at least doubled in volume.

Strew a little flour on a non-stick baking sheet. Break down the dough, rather gently, scatter in two teaspoons of the dill seeds. Put the dough on the floured baking sheet, press it out into a rectangle roughly 23 × 18 cm (9 x 7 in), then with a rolling pin, roll it out quite evenly. On it strew the cheese, cut into tiny cubes. Fold the dough into three. Roll out and fold again, twice, rather as if for puff pastry or croissant dough, but very quickly and lightly, and without waiting to rest the dough between each turn.

Finally when you have rolled the dough out into a 23 × 18 cm (9 x 7 in) rectangle for the fourth time, make three lengthways cuts right through the dough, then ten to twelve cuts the other way. The cuts should go right through the dough.

Brush the surface with a little cream or milk, sprinkle the remaining teaspoonful of dill seeds on the top, cover with a light cloth and leave the dough to recover, for about 30 minutes.

Bake in the centre of the oven, 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6, for 15 minutes, and for another 10 minutes on the bottom shelf, at the same temperature. (If you intend reheating the sticks, take them out after the first 15 minutes, and reheat them on the bottom shelf when convenient.)

During the baking, the sticks join themselves together again but are still clearly defined so that it is a matter of seconds to divide them, making neat portions, all except the outside sticks having soft sides, with the cheese melting in the middle. This system of baking rolls, buns and so on so that they re-adhere as they rise in the oven is called ‘baking crumby’.

These little sticks are very easy to make and most delicious. There will be about 3 dozen little sticks, but provided you have a large enough baking sheet and oven, it is perfectly simple to double the quantities of ingredients and divide the dough into two rectangles, or make one large one.

Written for
English Bread and Yeast Cookery
, but not included

FARINATA
,
ALSO CALLED
TORTA DI CECI OR FAÏNA ALLA GENOVESE

Ingredients: 250 g (½ lb) chick pea flour, 1 tablespoon of salt, 800 ml of water (1½ pints less 2 or 3 tablespoons) olive oil, salt, pepper.

Put the chick pea flour in a bowl, add the water a little at a time, stirring well. When smooth and about the consistency of pancake batter, add the salt. Cover and leave for a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight if more convenient.

Into a shallow earthenware dish approximately 28 cm (11 in) in diameter pour enough olive oil to cover the surface rather amply. Stir the batter and pour it into the dish. Again stir it well, so that the oil and batter are well incorporated.

Bake the
farinata
in a hot oven (properly, it is cooked in a bread
oven), 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7, for about 50 minutes, until the top is golden and crusty. Serve it hot, sprinkled with freshly milled pepper, and cut into lozenges. Normally,
farinata
is eaten as a snack rather than served at meals, although at San Remo where it is made very thin and sold in the great covered market, it is served as an entrée, accompanied by a salad of assorted small chicory leaves – an excellent combination.

Notes

1. 1. Among other variations, the
   farinata
   of Oneglia is strewn with very finely sliced onions before it is consigned to the oven, and at Savona it is sprinkled with rosemary leaves and baked in an open, wood-fired oven, with the burning logs surrounding the pan – in much the same way as the traditional
   sardenara
   (the pizza of the San Remo area –
   see
   p. 233
   ) is, or was, cooked.
   
2. 2. The thickness of the
   farinata
   varies a good deal. Sometimes, as at San Remo, it is little thicker than a pancake; at Oneglia it is traditionally 2–3 cm (1–1¼ in) thick. Beyond that it becomes stodgy.
   
3. 3. A variation of my own is to strew the
   farinata
   with a few fennel seeds before baking it – or stir them into the batter if you prefer. The Genoese are fond of fennel seeds as a flavouring, and remembering an excellent flat bread or galette – locally they call it a pizza – strewn with fennel, I borrowed the idea. To my mind, the fennel flavouring is a great improvement on rosemary.
   
4. 4. To reheat
   farinata
   simply sprinkle it with olive oil and put it in a moderate oven for a few minutes, or cut it in wedges and either toast them, or cover each with a slice of cheese and bake them in a hot oven.
   
5. 5. Across the Italian border, in the Niçois country, the equiva lent of
   farinata
   or
   faïna
   is called
   soca
   . Traditionally it is cooked, like the San Remo version, on a round iron baking sheet with a shallow rim and in an open, wood-fired oven. In the markets it is kept hot on its own iron sheets over charcoal braziers and sold in small portions.
   
6. 6. Yet another variation is the
   panisse
   , for which the chick pea flour is first cooked in water to a thick porridge, then poured into oiled saucers, left to set, turned out and fried golden in olive oil: like
   soca, panisses
   , familiar in the Niçois area, and called
   panissa
   or
   paniccia
   in Genoese, are sold in the markets and by street vendors.
   
7. 7. Italian chick pea flour is not to be found in England, but the Indian equivalent, called gram flour or
   besun
   , is just the same. It is to be bought in Indian provision shops and sometimes wholefood stores. Indians will tell you that gram flour is ground from lentils; this is because they class the chick pea among the dhal or lentils.