Last week bought with it mixed feelings. It was our last week of studying ‘pure’ bread. This week we’ve moved on to Viennoiserie, and whilst I am totally relishing the fresh challenges and new techniques we’re getting to experience dealing with enriched doughs, I’ve got to confess, I’m missing the bread ‘lab’ quite a bit.

The week was basically a review of all the techniques and baking concepts we’d covered over the past couple of months, and started where we began with baguettes. It was really good to revisit our French friends, as it helped cement a bunch of stuff that wasn’t really glued down. I guess in those first few weeks there was so much information flooding into my brain that I couldn’t really grasp hold of it all, and with baguettes being one of the most challenging breads, there was a lot to remember.

So we did a good day of mixing, shaping, rolling, scoring and baking the buggers, and I was relieved that aside from a few howlers here and there, I was pretty happy with how they turned out. For me, in many ways the scoring is the trickiest thing. You need to get the angle and depth of the cuts just right to get that spring and the famous baguette ears. I changed my technique after a bit more of an in-depth critique of my first batch, which improved results, but I’ve still got a lot of practicing to do.

Day two was all about re-visiting sourdoughs, and further crystallising the techniques and concepts around baking them. We did an interesting (again I guess this term is relative depending on how into bread you are) experiment with four almost identical sourdough formulas where the only variable was the percentage of (2 feed schedule) starter added. We made breads with 10, 20, 30 and 40% in the mix, baked them off and compared the results.

Obviously, the breads with the higher percentage were ’sourer’, but was was also interesting was the balance and depth of flavour. The lower percentages were a bit bland, and maybe could have used a bit more salt to make them more interesting, but the 40%, whilst having a pleasing twang lacked the depth as the sourness seemed to override everything else. The 30% was probably my favourite with a good balance of both, but like with many things it life, it’s a matter of taste.

We also mixed a ciabatta (revisiting the idea of  double-hydration) and a hand mixed sourdough which was probably my favourite bread of the course so far. It used 50% liquid white and whole wheat flour starter and a small amount of toasted wheat-germ in the final formula. The strength was developed through a a series of 3 folds every 45 minutes, it was pre-shaped, then final shaped in baskets and then retarded over night for baking the following morning. The results were awesometown. I made a 1.5 k loaf which came out brilliantly and made me a very happy man. Hmmm I can still taste it now.

Day three we moved in to uncharted territory. A land known as gluten flee. It was an OK place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. As with the ancient grains, through various consultation projects the SFBI have pioneered improving the quality of gluten free breads. We made various loaves with sorghum, buckwheat, teff and rice flour, which was in many ways a bit more like making a cake than baking bread. The results were better than anything gluten free that I’ve tasted before (not that I’m much of an expert), but I have to say I’m glad I don’t need to rely on them for my daily bread.

Moving swiftly on, Thursday was a mixed bag of various breads. We re-visted a bit of German rye, a bit of ancient grain action, some whole wheat, a roll recipe and another of my favourite loaves of the course, the Miche. The Miche is a classic French sourdough loaf weighing in at around 1.5 to 2 kilograms, the most famous of which is made by the peeps at Poilâne. Those that know me know that I’m a HUGE Poilâne fan and have blogged about their legendary bread before, so was pretty excited about baking this bad boy.

The loaf used high extraction flour, a high percentage of starter (almost 70%) and water, as well as a bit of toasted wheat-germ. We also autolysed the flour (there’s a pretty good explanation of the process here) to improve the flavour of the loaf, and developed strength with folds before shaping and retarding over night. Again I was a happy man. The higher extraction flour gave a tighter crumb, but a great flavour and a great sourdough tang. Trés bon.

The final day of the week was a bit of a party. The wood fired oven was stoked up again, and using the direct fire method (where there is is still a fire burning at the time of baking) we baked a bunch of different flat breads. Pita, naan (more on this in a post all of it’s own soon), lavash, and of course pizza. It was a great day, and a fitting farewell to the bread section of the course.

So that was seven weeks of bread. Big thanks to Frank and Mac who held our hands so brilliantly over the past 7 weeks. Onwards to the pastry lab…

Photo: Dan Harrison

Having packed and said goodbye to our flat, I’ve been feeling a little bit melancholy about leaving London, and I started to think about what I’m going to miss. Particularly food wise.

Here are my Top 10 food based ‘missing you already, London’ things in no particular order:

1. Polpo, and it’s sisters in all their forms.
2. My kitchen. Hope we can find an apartment in SF with a decent range.
3. My morning cup of coffee from Kaffiene.
4. Mangal 1 for its meat, fire and eccentricity.
5. Pizza and pasta from Maletti. Still so good after all these years.
6. The St John Bread & Wine bacon sandwich. In fact, everything St John.
7. My local Italian restaurant in Battersea, Antipasto & Pasta. Family run, solid, good atmosphere.
8. Lahore’s lamb chops. Wonder if there’s any good Pakistani food in San Fran?
9. Raymond Blanc on the telly.
10. The Anchor & Hope / 32 Great Queen Street.

I think I’ve probably cheated a bit by doubling up, but its my blog so I’ll do what the f**k I like.

Things I’m not going to miss? Public transport. Living hell.

It’s no understatement to say that that I’m a BIG fan of pizza.There’s something genius in it’s simplicity. Bread. Good. Tomato sauce. Good. Cheese. Good. Some kind of meaty topping. Goooooood. And when I’m talking about the kind of pizza that I love, I’m talking about the traditional Italian kind, not the whole farmyard on a base that you get delivered at 3am after a session on the wife beater.

I’ve been lucky enough to work around Soho, central London, for most of my career, and that also happens to be the location of what must be one of the best pizza joints in the UK. Situated in a little side road between Berwick and Wardour Streets, Malletti has been knocking out  amazing pizza to a small army of adoring and loyal fans for at least as long as I’ve working in the area. The queue that snakes out of the door most lunchtimes is testament to this.

The first time I tried what Malletti has to offer was when I was working on a pitch. My then boss, who was to be frank an arse, proved that he could get something right by heading out and bringing back a load of Malletti’s pizza for his hard working troops. I can remember sinking my teeth into my first slice of spicy salami (which is still my favourite) and being blown away. The thin almost pastry like base, deep tomato flavour from the sauce, and just the right amount of mozzarella, piquant salami and chilli. It’s making me hungry just thinking about it.

It’s only a small shop, but is dominated by the glass counter on the right that displays the wide range of tasty stuff on offer. As well as traditional pizza, they do focaccias, panni style sandwiches, really great pasta specials each day (the wild boar ragu is insane)  and some sweet stuff too. There’s a small bar on the left where you can stand up and eat, but it’s a bit tight in there so most people take away. The only trouble you’re really going to have at Malletti’s is working out what to have, although you will get an earful if you’re on your mobile when you try and order. They don’t like that, and fair play to them. There’s a sign on the way in to warn you.

Malletti is a great example of somewhere that’s perennially popular because it’s always been good at what it does, and not because it’s tried to move with the times. It’s staffed by the same people who have always been behind the counter, and you get the impression that it’s a family business.

Malletti doesn’t have a website, in fact there’s surprisingly little written about it on-line full stop, but if you’re interested in getting a slice of the good life (sorry) you can find them at 26 Noel Street, London, W1F 8GT.

They were made on dough base that was smeared with tomato puree, then topped with a triangle of Dairylea style processed cheese, and an egg. They were then baked in a bread oven until the egg was cooked all the way through. Like the hostel, the pizzas were pretty basic, but I remember them being very tasty, and after we’d been there a couple of times, the guy let us make our own and put them in the oven.

This breakfast pizza is a more sophisticated version of the above, and uses some of the same basic ingredients as the pizza recipe featured in this earlier post.

Ingredients (per pizza)

Around 200g pizza dough

Tomato sauce

2 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced

Teleggio cheese

prosciutto ham or cooked bacon

An egg

Salt and pepper

Method

First of all, turn your oven on to as high as it will go, and then roll out the pizza base into a roughly circular shape and create a crust by turning up the edges. This needs to be high enough to contain the raw egg once you’ve cracked it on top. I make and cook mine in the small frying pan pictured which has a 20cm diameter. This not only helps maintain the right shape and edge, but I also start the cooking process off on the hob before putting the pizza in the oven.

Leave the base for 15 minutes to prove a bit, and then spread on the tomato sauce. Add the thinly sliced tomato, and tear over the taleggio. The taleggio may smell quite strong, but it has a pretty mild flavour, and goes beautifully creamy when melted. Chop up the ham or cooked bacon and place on top, crack a raw egg on the centre of the pizza, and then season with a few grinds of pepper and a small pinch of salt.

Next, put the frying pan on the hob and turn on the gas. This gets the base going in the absence of a pizza stone. Leave on the heat for a minute or so, and then put the pizza in the oven. The pizza should be cooked in around 6 minutes or so. It’s ready when the egg white is cooked through, but the yoke is still soft.

Take out of the oven and eat immediately, either on it’s own or with a bit of rocket. Seriously tasty, and a bit different.

This recipe makes one large rectangular pizza with a thin, crispy, tasty base, that is a million miles away from the flabby crud that the likes of Planet Pizza churn out. I would recommend that you make a bigger batch of the dough and freeze half of it to use at a later date. Just double the quantity of the mix (below), and once risen, wrap half in cling film and pop in the freezer.

For the tomato sauce, you can pretty much use the same sort of thing that you’d usually put on pasta. I use a simple sauce made from a tin of tomatoes, garlic, herbs and seasoning. If I can be bothered, I’ll blend it so it’s smooth like passata, but you don’t have to. A bit of tomato texture isn’t a deal breaker.

Obviously, once you’ve made your dough and tomato sauce, you can put anything on your pizza you like. This recipe is for a pizza of two halves. On one side a classic prosciutto themed number, and on the other anchovy and veggies.

Ingredients

For the base:

250g white ‘Tipo 00′ flour

3g powdered dried yeast

4g ground sea salt

1g sugar

150ml warm water

Topping:

Tomato sauce

250g Good quality mozzarella

5 slices of prosciutto ham

1 red chilli, finely chopped

8-10 anchovy fillets

Strips of red onion

Courgette, cut into ribbons with a peeler

Olive oil, rocket and basil to garnish

Method

Making the dough part of the pizza is very similar to the method used for making the earlier focaccia recipe. Mix the water, sugar and yeast together and set aside. Measure out the flour and salt into a bowl and then mix together. Add the yeast mixture to the flour and combine. The ingredients should come together and make a dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and then knead for around 10 minutes. Coat the dough with a little olive oil, place it in an oiled bowl, cover with a plastic bag or damp tea towel, and then put in a warm place for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size. Now’s a good time to turn on your oven as you’ll want to get it as hot as it will go (preferably 250c +).

Once the dough has risen, turn it out of the bowl and knock it back. Now you’re ready to get busy constructing your masterpiece.  This is going to sound a bit retarded, but remember that you’re going to have to transfer your pizza from wherever you’re making it into an oven. This is obviously trickier with a larger pizza, so make sure you’ve got a plan. I make my pizzas on the baking trays that came with my oven. I flour one up, make my pizza on it and then use it to slide the pizza onto the other tray that’s been heating up in the oven. More on this shortly.

Roll / stretch your dough out into whatever shape you like. The base should only be few milimeters thick; once you’ve got the right shape and size, pinch and roll the edge to form a small crust. If you’re making a pizza with two different flavours as here, you can use some of the trimmings to create a dividing ridge. Once you’re done, set the base aside to 10 or 15 minutes to prove whilst you prep your toppings.

After you’re prepped, spoon a thin layer of the tomato sauce all over your pizza base, and then place on your toppings. On one side tear over the mozzarella, basil and chilli, on the other more mozzarella, shards of red onion, anchovies and ribbons of courgette.

You’re now ready to cook your pizza. Ideally you want to slide it onto a hot surface to try and replicate the conditions of a pizza oven.  I don’t have a stone, so I cook mine on a baking tray that’s been heating up in the oven. As the oven is bloody hot, the pizza should only take around 10 minutes or so to cook.

Once the edge of base is nicely browned and the cheese is bubbling, take it out. On the mozzarella and chili side take the proscuitto, tear it into strips and drape it over the base, then sprinkle with rocket leaves and drizzle with olive oil. On the anchovy side, add basil leaves and also drizzle with oil.

Serve as soon as possible. Molto bene!