Pane di Como

26Jun08

 

 

I made the best loaves of “Como” bread last week from the book Local Breads by Daniel Leader. I’ve really only followed through on the Italian-style breads thus far, as some of the others require feeding a starter for an extended period of time. I was attempting a sour German rye, but Mr. Market tossed it out thinking it was compost. 

 

 

You have to start the biga the night before, and you are supposed to refrigerate it after an hour, but I forgot and left it out all night, and it still worked out fine. The next day you put the rest of the dough together, and mix it in a heavy duty mixer for 10-12 minutes. This is the part that was shocking to me — his methods for “old world” breads require some serious stand-mixing! For his ciabatta, you have to knead it at a high speed for about 15 minutes, and the mixer will practically walk off the counter. 

Anyway, the dough is beautiful and strangely glossy at this point — it looks almost like meringue:

It ferments for a couple of hours, and then big, pillowy proofing:

 

And then in the oven on a baking stone. I didn’t put the ice cubes in for a chewier crust this time. It was great just the way it was. 

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Tags: biga, bread, local breads