January 26, 2013 - 5:41pm
My Pugliese Capriccioso Attempt
I baked David's version of Pane Pugliese. I didn't have durum flour so I followed Peter Reinhart's suggestion in BBA and used 1/3 as much semolina. Otherwise I followed David to a "T". To be honest, I was a bit concerned about not scoring the loaf. I had visions of a tight, dense crumb. I worried for nothing, as you can see.
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Looks perfect! Great crust and crumb!
How did it taste with the semolina substitution?
David
The flavor with the amount of semolina I used is very subtle. It is a delicious bread nonetheless. My 13 year old daughter declared it her favorite!
Next time I'll increase the percentage of semolina and see how it comes out.
This bread will certainly become part of my regular rotation.
Sjadad
with the unscored mottled crust and the open crumb. Great to know that substitution can work. Beautiful bread! -Varda
Thanks Varda. There are so many breads I've seen labeled "Pugliese" that I had no definitive reference, other than examples here on TFL. It's quite a large loaf too, which makes a dramatic presentation.
Sjadad
No slashing needed! Makes one wonder if slashing is really required on any bread :-) Your bake is a beautiful example of one of David's masterpieces.
Happy Baking
Oh, you must have be *delighted* when you sliced into your loaf, and saw that perfect crumb!
:^) breadsong
Yes breadsong, you obviously know that moment of anticipation, when you get to finally see the result of hours (days, months?) of effort. I'm sure there was a huge smile across my face when I separated that slice and saw the crumb I had hoped for.
Sjadad
Amazing crumb you got there, Sjadad. And very useful post for me, too, as I recently bought a bag of Italian durum semolina flour by mistake, thinking it's durum flour (well, that's what I was told by the lady-owner of the Italian shop I bought bit from, only to find out it's not when I got home...), and trying to find out if there's any way to substitute and how it'd work. It certainly looks it worked very well with your method ! :)
So, am I right in thinking you replaced a third of durum flout in the recipe with semolina flour and the rest (= two thirds) with bread/AP flout instead? Did you soak semolina flour before mixing it with other flour? I've read somewhere some people recommended to do so because semolina doesn't absorb water as easily as regular flour.
I substituted semolina for 1/3 the weight of durum flour and made up the difference with AP flour. I didn't soak the semolina ahead of time, although I've read about that technique too and wonder what effect it would have.
The semolina is barely detectable, so next time I'll increase the percentage.
Let us know how yours comes out.
Sjadad
Thanks!