The kneaded thing (daily bread, everyday)
Fougasse with olive oil
EverydayDocumented🧂facile2 h 30 (including rising)
A golden, crispy Provençal flatbread, slashed like an ear of wheat, perfumed with olive oil and sprinkled with fleur de sel. The panoramic crust dear to Ponge, to be broken by hand.
The kneaded thing (daily bread, everyday)
A golden, crispy Provençal flatbread, slashed like an ear of wheat, perfumed with olive oil and sprinkled with fleur de sel. The panoramic crust dear to Ponge, to be broken by hand.
Consider the surface of a loaf: to the eye, it is a whole massif, a panoramic mountain range. The Alps, the Taurus, the Andes — all of that in a crust! Under the finger that breaks it, the crumb reveals a soft subsoil, a warm earth with alveoli like sponges. In Montpellier they flatten it, slash it with cuts, drizzle it with oil: fougasse. Eat it warm, and do not respect the thing too much — bread is only made to be broken.
Ingredients
- •Wheat flour — a lot (base)
- •Sourdough or yeast — a little (leavening)
- •Olive oil — generously (fat, signature)
- •Warm water — as needed (hydration)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
How it was made : Fougasse is one of the oldest breads of Provence, traditionally baked at the start of the batch to check the oven's heat. An everyday bread, it was made plain, with cracklings, or with herbs; with olive oil and salt, it is the most rustic and ancient version.
Sources : Francis Ponge, « Le Pain », dans Le Parti pris des choses, Gallimard, 1942 · J.-B. Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, 1897