Category: Poolish

03/13/09

How to Make a Poolish Sponge

Filed under: Blog, Poolish— by joe @ 11:05:33 am Permalink

This makes enough for my baguette recipe, but of course it can be increased if need be for some other application. The amount of yeast employed in a poolish is tiny relative to the flour and water. So tiny, in fact, that for a poolish sponge this small, we'll need to dissolve some instant yeast in water, then administer the solution in spoonfuls. Start by combining:

2 ounces water
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

...in a small bowl.

Stir until the yeast is completely dissolved:

Fetch a slightly larger bowl, and put in it:

4 ounces all-purpose flour

plus

2 teaspoons of the yeast solution

Pour in:

4 ounces of water:

And stir with a fork until it's all combined into a batter.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for 12-16 hours until it looks about like so:

Nice and bubbly, yes? That's what you want. And there you have it: one poolish. This will keep well in the fridge for two days.


Preferments II: The Poolish

Filed under: Blog, Poolish— by joe @ 05:43:19 am Permalink

Pâte fermenté isn't the be-all and end-all of sponges, you know. The poolish occupies its own special place in the preferment firmament, right next to the Italian biga (but we'll talk more about that some other time).

You'll recall in my opening remarks about baguettes that, in addition to various technologies like the deck oven, the pre-industrial French lacked the techniques required to produce fast-rising breads. One of the most important of these techniques was invented by the Poles, themselves no slouches at baking, and who were in fact — at least in matters of bread — at least equal to the Viennese. For they discovered that by adding a small amount of brewer's yeast to a slurry of flour and water, a very flavorful — yet still relatively fast-rising — goop was created, one that could be added to fluffy fine breads to increase their complexity.

What kind of sponge is this? French bakers asked their Viennese teachers (who'd been employing the Polish preferment for decades by the mid-1800's).

Polnisch.

What kind?

Polnisch.

Poolish?

Ja, right, poolish...whatever.

And that's how it's been referred to in France (and pretty much everywhere else) ever since.


Hello, Joe!


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