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Tassajara Two-Step
There is a book called The Tassajara Bread Book. It was first published in
1970 and to some it is the only bread book. I was in Kitchen Arts & Letters a
while ago and picked up a copy.
Here is my first Tassajara try. The results were really nice. The first yeasted bread starts with a sponge; water, yeast, honey, dry milk & whole wheat flour. It gets mixed and rises for about 45 minutes. A little oil, a little salt and more whole wheat flour get added and rises a second time for 50-60 minutes. Punched down, it rises a third time (including the sponge). This time for 40-50 minutes. The shaped loaves proof for only 25 minutes and rise suprisingly high for a 100% whole wheat bread. A few seeds, a few slashes... ...Poof! Really nice oven spring! Maybe it was Budda? The crumb was moist and even, with no doorstop properties. The honey-whole wheat flavor was very deep and very tasty.
The book was written by a Zen priest and takes an appropriate approach to bread baking. To describe how to determine when the dough is fully kneaded, the book says "It will stick to your hands and the board less and less, until no flour is needed to prevent sticking." There is no mention of time. I like that.
Here is my first Tassajara try. The results were really nice.
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