We’re back from a very nice trip to see friends in Brussels, and one of my favorite parts was (of course) the bread! I will be posting some fun photos of bread and some beer (liquid bread), which have given me inspiration to start using more rye and more seeds.
But for now, it’s baguettes a l’ancienne at the street market in Stokell in Belgium on a nice sunny Saturday morning. This is a real craft bread at a reasonable price. A l’ancienne is the technique where you use ice water to mix the dough, which inhibits the yeast from working on the starch in the flour until after the enzymes have had time to break it down — give you more flavor and complexity. It takes more time and attention that a standard yeast bread. Yep, 1.30 Euro. I will post the photos of the natural source dough and whole wheat yeast breads next.
Stupid me though. I didn’t ask if the bakery uses a wood-fired bread oven. Darn. I can say that the bottom of the whole wheat levain (sourdough) was a little burned, which means it very well might have been a wood-fired bakery.
