100 Great Breads: Bread #3 – Pain de Campagne

Bread #3 and I have already broken the method of this adventure, but it wasn’t entirely my fault! I intended to go through Paul’s book, bread by bread, in the order they are given. Unfortunately this would have meant an awful lot of white bread to begin with, which is rather dull. Furthermore, my wife seems to have flicked through the book without me noticing and picked some recipes that she wants. This sneakery manifested itself today when she knew I was in a good mood – the sun is shining very strongly down in Bedford – and waited for me to say I intended to make some bread, then BANG! she wants a Pain de Campagne?!?! I took one look at the recipe and saw it had Rye flour mixed with strong white, I have never used rye before so this was always going to be a new experience; but, she asked, and I was in a good mood so I have obliged. On further inspection it is probably best that I have broken the structure of the book, it has quite a few Easter breads and even I would find it a bit weird to be eating hot cross buns in the middle of November.

So, in between a family walk, M.D.’s first nap and playing in a paddling pool, I have managed to make up some of this fantastic looking, rustic French bread. Not only is this my first experience with rye flour, it is also the first time I have added oregano to bread so it’s all fun. Paul uses 300 ml of water, but I was prepared to have to add a bit more as the absorbency of Rye flour is different to that of normal, white flour. He also uses 50g of butter! For a stereotypically thin nation, the French do like their butter don’t they. All in all, it had the makings of Paul’s promise; it would be a big, bold, hearty loaf full of flavour.

Mixing and Kneading

Well, rye is much firmer than wholemeal, thus making this knead a two handed job. I prefer to work one handed; I find it easier to maintain rhythm and have a free hand just in case (well, that could sound very rude in the wrong mind), but this was a firm dough and needed a fair bit of muscular working. Finally, it yielded and began to form into the usual elastic ball we know and love. It shaped up very nicely, most likely due to the firm nature of the dough, and in it went to prove for two hours.

This proving time did cause me some consternation. It is rather warm today, and uncharacteristically for our kitchen, it was warm in there too. Paul’s recipe called for 20g of fresh yeast and, as you will remember from the crusty cob blog, he advises dropping the amount slightly for dried yeast. This leaves us with what, 15g of yeast? This is a lot of yeast, and left in a warm room I was afraid the dough would swell to be bigger than my bowl in just 1 hour. To counter this I used the coldest water I could and tried to leave the backdoor open for air to circulate; even this could not stop the speedy rise, so I began shaping after 1hr and 45 mins because the dough had reached the volume capacity of my bowl.

The Bake

Pain de Compagne

Pain de Campagne

Pain de Compagne Crumb

Pain de Campagne Crumb

Well, if the smell of the oven whilst this bread is baking does not melt the hearts of the household then I am afraid to say, you have some issues! It is just incredible, even the dogs ended up lying by the backdoor, sniffing away. Paul makes you cut a square onto the top of the loaf before baking but, because of the erratic nature of our oven, and the varying temperatures in the kitchen from opening and closing doors for long periods of time, my loaf has ended up with a rhombus-like insignia atop its crust. Anyway, it still brought a ‘wow!’ out of my wife as I brought it out of the oven so it is good enough for me.

The texture is chewier and a little denser than previous breads, most likely due to the rye. The oregano flavour is subtle, next time I make this I will add more – he described the amount as a ‘large handful’, which is very unhelpful [wouldn’t that depend on how large the hands are?]. The crust is brilliant and flavourful, and the bread seems to have a close enough crumb to make good toast!

History of Bread

According to Herodotus there was a debate as to which civilisation was the oldest and, to help answer this question, they engaged in an odd experiment to prove it once and for all. The experiment was to see what language a child born to no vocalised parenting would speak – what was that baby’s first word, I hear you ask, hmmm?

“Psammetichus, when he was in no way able to learn by inquiry which people had first come into being, devised a plan by which he took two newborn children of the common people and gave them to a shepherd to bring up among his flocks. He gave instructions that no one was to speak a word in their hearing; they were to stay by themselves in a lonely hut, and in due time the shepherd was to bring goats and give the children their milk and do everything else necessary. [3] Psammetichus did this, and gave these instructions, because he wanted to hear what speech would first come from the children, when they were past the age of indistinct babbling. And he had his wish; for one day, when the shepherd had done as he was told for two years, both children ran to him stretching out their hands and calling “Bekos!” as he opened the door and entered. [4] When he first heard this, he kept quiet about it; but when, coming often and paying careful attention, he kept hearing this same word, he told his master at last and brought the children into the king’s presence as required. Psammetichus then heard them himself, and asked to what language the word “Bekos” belonged; he found it to be a Phrygian word, signifying bread.” Herodotus, The Histories, ii.2.2-4

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3 Responses to 100 Great Breads: Bread #3 – Pain de Campagne

  1. Pingback: On the subject of bread

  2. Tushar says:

    Hi – I really like the simplicity of this recipe. We use a Pate Fermentee in our recipe to help develop the flavour thoroughly.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvVxvQhyeFQ

    Pâte Fermentée:
    280g Strong Bread Flour.
    3/4 tsp of Salt
    1/2 tsp if Yeast
    170g of Water

    Pain de Campagne:
    All Pâte Fermentée from above:
    220g Strong Bread Flour
    45g Wholewheat flour
    3/4 tsp Salt
    1 tsp Yeast
    170g Water

    Regards

    T

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