Sea Holidays Bake - Olive Bread
After many months being so busy finally the time of holidays/vacations arrived. Again this year we (my wife, our dog and me) are having great time on Island of Hvar in middle Dalmatia in the Adriatic Sea.
The bread they typically bake here is a white puffy bread which is good to eat while being still warm, after several hours it is already very dry and next day it is not eatable any more. Like last year I took with me the scale, bannetons, linens, iron-cast skillet and my favorite dough vessel and of course my starter.
Inspired by the environment vegetation which is mostly olive trees and vine trees I decided to make a "thematic" bread from the olives and Mediterranean spices. The recipe is simple: add chopped black olives one hour into fermentation together with few grams of local spices which contribute a lot to the specific taste and pair well with the taste of olives. The rest of the recipe is my standard one, 20% wholegrain wheat, 80% strong bread flour (type 850), hydration ~78%.
One loaf was without olives and spices for my wife. She likes a lot the cranberry jam with creme fraiche for breakfast.
The oven in the apartment where we stay is working perfect with evenly distribution of heat. Due to hot environment I must switch on the kitchen ventilation and air conditioning.
To cool down the bread I used the wired mash from the stove supported by 4 cups to achieve good ventilation.
Because of lack of suitable working surface I shaped both loaves just by stretch&folds in the vessels and then dumped them directly to bannetons.
The bread was great and the I almost forgot to take the shot of the crumb of the olive bread before it vanished. We invited our neighbors for bread tasting with the Prosciutto, olives, cheese and a lot of wine.
Happy baking!
Joze
P.S. Right now I am making a lavender bread - will prepare another post about it.
Our Gaia enjoying on the sofa.
Comments
What a treat, and a very good way to get to know your neighbors - Joze, your bread looks wonderful! Nice to be able to take your skills with you on holiday, and your pup looks happy, too. Enjoy!
In discussion with our holidays neighbors I found out that they are interested in natural not pre-processed food and they were not familiar with sourdough so it was a good opportunity to convince them about the benefits of sourdough bread. To be more authentic I had to make a batch of bread for tasting. Of course it was also an excellent opportunity to drink several glasses of good wine.
Happy baking nmygarden,
Joze
Those look truly delicious, Joze. Well done. It's sometimes interesting baking in someone else's kitchen, isn't it? Good thinking to take your bannetons, though.
What were the local spices? Rosemary, oregano, that kind of thing?
Wendy
I checked the ingredients of the "Mediterranean spices" and they are: rosemary, thyme, savory, basil and tarragon. Oregano is missing. However, Island of Hvar is well known for special kind of "wild" oregano flowering in the bushes and they dry the flowers and sell them. The flavor is several times stronger than whatever you can buy in any store. Last year I bought a jar of 200ml and I had it for one year. It gives a special kind of flavor.
Last year I met an old local lady and she told me the recipe for fisherman's bread. The recipe is simple: normal dough and when you shape it in a small batard you put in a salty fish (sardine, mackerel, ...), a little bit of olive oil and oregano and then you let it rise and bake it. You can also add some olives to get richer bread. I did it once last year and it was great, however my wife is not a big fan of salty fish so I am not requested to bake it often :-(
Happy baking Wendy,
Joze
What good planning in bringing along the starter and the bannetons - and great creativity in balancing the oven rack on the coffee cups for cooling!
Your neighbours must be as happy as your puppy looks, since you were so generous.
Hope your holiday is as lovely as your loaves!
Wow, nice work. Crust and crumb look excellent.