Attention! The sponge should be prepared the day before.
In total it takes 26-27 hours to make the bread, but that is mainly waiting and letting the dough work. 😉
Fougasse, the flat bread from the Provence 😊
It is, so to speak, the French counterpart to the Italian focaccia,
both of which in turn go back to the ancient Roman flatbread panis
focacius.
One flatbreat for 2 persons
The doubled quantity for a large fougasse for 4 people also still fits very well on a baking tray
Ingredients for the sponge
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Step 1: 5 g yeast, 50 g flour and 65 mL tepid water
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Step 2: 50 g flour and 45 mL tepid water
Ingredients for the dough
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185 g flour
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1/2 tsp. salt
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45 mL tepid water
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2 Tbsp. olive oil
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To apply before baking: Mix 1 Tbsp. olive oil and nearly 1 tsp. Herbs de Provence. Also needed: Fleur de Sel.
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Preparation of the sponge (start the day before!)
In a large bowl (take the one of the kitchen machine), dissolve 5 g
yeast in 65 mL tepid water, stir with a spoon, until everything is well
mixed. Add 50 g flour. Don't be surprised
the 'dough' is pretty liquid.
Cover the bowl with a cloth and keep it for 12 hours at a warm place.
Then add another 45 mL tepid water and 50 g flour. Again mix well, and keep it for another 12 hours at a warm place.
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Preparation of the bread (around 2 hours before eating)
On the second day, dilute the pre-dough with 45 mL lukewarm water
and add 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, mix well. Then add approx. 185 g
flour and knead for approx. 7-10 minutes.
Put the dough back in a warm place for an hour.
Then remove from the pot and, on a lightly floured work surface,
shape into a rough sheet approx. 1 cm thick with your hands.
Put the dough on a greased baking sheet and cut slashes into the
'leaf' (easily done with a pizza wheel). It should look like the veins
in a
leaf (see photo). Important: Pull the slashes a bit apart, to a
width of around 2 centimetres, so that the don't close again while
baking.
As a last step, brush the dough with the olive oil/herb mix (1
Tbsp. oil, nearly 1 tsp. herbes de provence) and sprinkle with a good
deal of Fleur de Sel. If you want, you can cover the dough with a cloth
and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Finally bake the bread (middle rack) at 230℃ for around 15 minutes.
The bread tastes best when it's still warm from the oven.
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