Olive Fougasse

Since the barbecue season has long since begun and I’ve been putting this recipe off for ages, it finally happened last weekend. The tender crumb, the taste of the olive and the crispy crust make grilling a culinary delight.

The simple production makes baking easy and puts a smile on the face of every amatuer baker that seems to say: “Baking can be so easy”!

Even though fougasse often appears in its current form as a new edition,  it was born from an ancient idea. The fougasse was used to determine the temperature of the wood oven. Due to the baking time, the temperature of the wood oven could be guessed.

Recipe

For a dough weight of 1975g / 7 pieces, each 282g 

Rye poolish:

  • 200g Rye flour Type 960
  • 400g Water 35°C
  •     3g Yeast

DT: 30°C / 2 hours then store in the refrigerator at 4°C Maturity time: 18 – 24 hours Hydration(TA): 300

Main dough:     

  • 603g Mature rye poolish
  • 700g Wheat flour Type 700
  • 100g Wheat flour Type 1600
  • 330g Water
  •   10g Sugar
  •   10g Yeast
  •   22g Sea salt
  • 200g Olives

Hydration(TA): 173    Mixing time: 8 min. slowly / 2 min. quickly  DT: 25°C

Instructions:

Stir together the rye poolish, flour, and water until lump-free and let stand for 30 minutes. 

Then add the salt, sugar, and yeast and mix on slow speed for 8 minutes. Then the dough is kneaded quickly until it completely releases from the side of the mixing bowl. Only when the dough has released from the side of the mixing bowl are the olives mixed in slowly. 

Store the dough in a lightly oiled dough tub and fold after 20/40 minutes. 

After the dough rises it is divided into equal-sized pieces and formed into cylinders- see the Video demonstration here >  (form them a bit looser than shown in the video!!)

The pre-shaped dough pieces are stored in the refrigerator at 4°C until ready to work up. The maturation time should be at least 6 hours, but not more than 15 hours!

Before removing the dough from the refrigerator the oven must be already preheated to 255°C. Only now are the dough pieces removed from the refrigerator and “pressed through” with a spatula (don’t cut).

After forming the fougasse, place it on a floured baking peel and after a brief rest (10-15 minutes) slide it into the oven with strong steam.

Bake until well browned at constant heat (release the steam after half of the baking time).