I love this bread. Such a nice, glossy, slightly golden interior and spongy texture. Great for dipping in olive oil, and let’s not get started about sandwiches. Did I say get started? Then let’s. Your refrigerated starter should be bubbly, about like so (fancy crockery bowl not required): Put it into the bowl of your […]
READ ONMexico Bob helpfully chimes in on the subject that just won’t die. Boy, did you ever open a can of worms. Tell us oh master, what is the difference among the following 🙂 Crema Mexicana Crema Mexicana agria Crema acificada Crema fresca casera Crema para batir Crema Centroamericana Crema Centroamericana acida Jocoque Now, now. I […]
READ ONRegular reader and contributor Hans writes in to comment: If my latin-based language skillz don’t let me down, Crème Fraîche means fresh cream. The latinos have a similar cream, usually called crema fresca. If you have a concentration of Latin Americans (i.e. Mexicans, though not limited to Mexicans) your grocery may carry crema fresca and […]
READ ONDid I mention you’ll need some durum flour? You will, and it can be hard to find. You can of course order it online, or just use all white flour instead. The loaf you’ll get will have as much right to be called “Pugliese” as mine — ’cause neither one of them will be made […]
READ ONWell, it’s a weird week, what with Christmas Eve being tomorrow, but of course I’m still baking away. Maybe I’ll dial you all in on a bread project I’m working on: Pulgiese (pronounced pool-yee-AY-zee). As you’ve probably guessed, it’s an Italian sort of thing, actually a southern Italian sort of thing, from, of course, Apulia, […]
READ ONThere is also — technically — a microbial difference between the American and French versions of crème fraîche, as my friend and regular commentator Nick R. points out. One can purchase such a culture, which is composed of a mix of Continental bacteria, and gives a more authentic product. If you’re interested you can buy […]
READ ONI get tired of fancy magazines (and, ehem…blogs) calling for this ingredient, don’t you? For quite a while I thought it was just a fancy French-sounding name for sour cream, one that allowed my local Whole Foods to charge twice as much money for the stuff. But in fact it is a slightly different animal […]
READ ONFor the crème fraîche in the onion tart recipe, you mean? Nope. Sour cream can’t take the heat that crème fraîche can, and will break in the oven. So should you not have access to any, just substitute a lesser amount of heavy cream. It won’t have the same zing, but you won’t be disappointed.
READ ONSometimes I think God put puff pastry on Earth for one reason and one reason alone: so it could be made into scraps and those scraps turned into Alsatian onion tart. This appetizer is so rich and lovely — covered with caramelized onions, cream and bacon — odds are excellent your dinner guests won’t ever […]
READ ONThe most popular story on the origin of the onion tart is that it was originally a baked good with which the bakers of old would test the heat of their ovens. If they pushed the embers aside and put one down (among the still-burning embers) and it baked up in a certain amount of […]
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