1 ea Pkg active dry yeast
1 lb Flour*
250 ml Tepid water
1 ea Egg yolk, beaten
1 lb Belly of pork, diced
2 lb Pork fat, diced
12 tb Dry white wine
*Flour should be a mixture of unbleached white bread flour with 2
generous handfuls of buckwheat flour, sifted together. If you can’t
find the buckwheat flour, don’t worry about it.
For the dough: Stir together the yeast and a handful of flour in
enough water to make a runny batter. Leave for 1 hour. Warm the
remaining flour in the oven, mix in salt and make a well in the
middle. Pour in the yeast mixture and add enough tepid water to make
a moist dough. Knead for 10-12 minutes on a lightly floured surface.
Leave to rise in a large floured bowl covered with a dampened cloth.
When the dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a floured work
surface, punch down and flatten the dough out. Add the grattons (see
immediately below for how to make them). Preheat the oven to
450F/250C.
For the grattons: Cook the meat, fat and wine over a *very* gentle
heat in a heavy covered saucepan. Press down on the meat several
times during cooking to render up as much fat as possible. After 1
1/2 – 2 hours, pour the liquid off through a strainer. (It can be
used instead of olive oil for cooking, and often was, in Provencal
cooking.) Crisp the diced meat over higher heat, straining off any
liquid fat when necessary.
To make the fougasse, make the bread dough, and after the first
rising mix in the grattons. Then, with a knife, cut through the dough
first one way, then another. Reform into a ball and repeat. Gather
the pieces together into a mass, divine in two and form into two flat
loaves, slashed straight through their thickness in numerous places.
Spread the holes wider with your fingers. (You are striving for an
effect like a flat sheet of bread with holes like those of a slice of
swiss cheese.) Brush the top with the egg yolk and bake on a hot
metal sheet for 30-35 minutes until crisp and golden. Serve warm with
a bitter salad like endive or dandelion.
NB: this is a very rich bread — more like a salty shortbread than
anything else. But *very* good.
Yields
8 Servings