Fougasse
I know what you’re thinking, “what the heck is that?”. Am I right? Fougasse is a flat, leaf-shaped bread from Provence . It has a crispy, olive oil-flavored exterior and a soft interior. I know that my Fougasse doesn’t quite look like a leaf, but it sure is tasty, so the joke is on you.
I don’t know what that means.
This recipe is made with a biga (a pre ferment), so it has a greater depth of flavor than regular straight dough. A biga is not unlike a sponge or a poolish. The only difference is that a biga is usually a firmer pre ferment with only about 50% hydration. The three ingredients of a biga is as follows: a little bit of yeast, flour and water. Never salt. Never. Don’t even think about putting salt in.
Behold the Biga- prior to rising
The Biga- after rising
- 1/8 tsp. (.5 g) Instant Yeast
- 1/2 cup (4 fl. oz) Water
- 1 3/4 cups (223 g) All-Purpose Flour
- Stir the yeast into the water and then stir in the flour in two batches. Stir about 2 minutes by hand until smooth. You want a dough temperature of 70 degrees F.
- Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, and then cover with plastic wrap. Let stand at a cool temperature, about 70 degrees F.
- With this amount of yeast, this should take you 6 to 16 hours until the biga is ripe. The biga is ripe when it "domes" and is just starting to sink in the middle. It will be wet and sticky. Refrigerate until needed.
Mixing it all together
The “Window” Test after kneading
- 5 oz. (142 g) Biga, at room temperature
- 1 cup plus 2 TBS (9 fl. oz) Water, 70 degrees F.
- 1/2 tsp. (2 g) Instant Yeast
- 2 TBS (21 g) Semolina Flour
- 1 1/4 tsp. (7.5) fine Sea Salt
- 3 cups (383 g) All-Purpose Flour, divided
- 1 TBS Olive oil, divided
- Stir your biga and then measure out 5 oz. into a large bowl. Add the water, instant yeast, semolina flour, and sea salt to the bowl. Mix until combined. Add 2 cups of the all-purpose flour and mix. Then add the remaining 1 1/2 cups. Stir to combined.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until soft and just a little sticky, about 10 minutes. To see if the dough has been kneaded enough perform the "window test". Stretch the dough as thin as you can. If it does not break it is ready! If it does, keep kneadin', cowboy.
- Place the kneaded dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Punch down the dough, then let sit for a minute. Fold the dough onto itself trapping some of the air. Do this on all sides.
- Place the dough back in the bowl, cover, and allow to rise for another hour. The dough is ready to preshape and, after standing, shape and bake as Fougasse.
Divide dough into 3 equal pieces
Take one dough ball and pat it out into an oval shape
Cut decorative slits and then gently grab the top of the oval to stretch the dough
Cameron helped me out
Cover loosely with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray and allow to rise for 30 minutes to an hour. Pre heat the oven to 460 degrees F. Lightly brush each Fougasse with olive oil. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Place on rack to cool.
Here’s mine
Here’s Cam’s. He’s four.
