Edible slippers: ciabatta

Bread. Yup, we're gonna make some bread today, but I'm gonna warn you ahead of time: this one is tough, it takes a long time, and it's messy. But it's worth it. I guarantee you that.
When we think of the breads we grew up with, I bet most of us have an image or taste memory of something soft, slightly sweet, buttery that lasted on the counter for a long, long time. You remember that bread that "built strong bodies 12 ways." Uh, it also filled us with a whole lot of nasty chemicals. That's part of how it built strong bodies 12 ways, if it ever did that. I haven't heard the ad campaign for it forever.
In the bread baking world, one speaks of "American" and "European" style breads. American style breads are richer, with fat in them, sometimes eggs, frequently more than a pinch of sugar, and they're softer. They have staying power, because of the fat. Fat helps to retain the moisture and the difference between "fresh" and "stale" bread is frequently just a case of how much moisture is in the loaves. European style breads, almost always, have no fat, and almost no sweetener. They are crunchier, and they do not last long.
Another fundamental difference between the two is that American breads, generally, are made with a lot more yeast than European style breads. They rise faster, and take less time to bake. The result is a loss of flavor, at least tom some palates, mine included. European breads are usually "sourdoughs," although not in the sense of an American, or San Francisco style, sourdough. In European bread making, traditionally, you saved a small piece of the bread dough that you made today, and used it to "start" the bread tomorrow. In the interval, the dough went "sour," as more yeast developed. Also, left to the environment, other critters would get in and add their own flavor to the mix.

That sounds kind of disgusting doesn't it? By "critters," I mean microbes. And the microbes and how long they stay will determine the flavor of your bread. Truly "wild type" sourdough starters will give you no hint as to how the bread is going to turn out. If you like surprises, this is for you. If not, well, a controlled sourdough is what you want, and that's what we're going to make now.

"Ciabatta" is an Italian word that means "slipper." By "slipper," as I learned not too long ago , we mean the kind of slipper you wear around the house, not the type that Cinderella (or, "Cenerentola," since we're talking Italian here) wore to the ball, lost one of, and found her prince charming.

Now, wouldn't it be great if we could all "accidentally" lose a shoe and find our prince charming? No, it doesn't work that way, so we need to learn how to cook. Trust me on this one gang: if you can bake bread, you have a lot of friends. If you can bake these "exotic" European breads, well... you got something going for you.

No one really knows the origin of ciabatta, and this is odd, because Italians are extremely protective about their "regional" breads. Panettone is Milanese. "Pane pugliese " is , well... There is Lake Como bread. But where originates ciabatta? No one knows,but we can make some guesses, based on its composition. This is a white flour recipe, which knocks out the south, where semolina and durum rule, and the breads are golden in color. There is salt in it, which eliminates Tuscany, which traditionally does not use salt in its bread (either because Tuscans are cheap, or because the food is so rich the bread doesn't need salt. You meet some Tuscans, eat some Tuscan food, and make your decision). It's not from TOO far north, because then it would have rye or corn flour in it. And finally, because it's PURE white flour, no whole wheat, it's probably from a wealthier region. But which one?

Who knows? But let's make it. And remember, I warned you.

First, we have to make a starter. I have seen this starter called biga, and I've seen it called poolsh. Combine a cup of water with 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, and a heaping 1.5 cups of all purpose flour. Mix this all together, put it in a container, and let it sit , unrefrigerated, for about 8 hours (overnight). You can refrigerate it if you want, but then let it come to room temperature for about three hours before you move on to the bread.

You're thinking "how hard or messy is that. WAIT. Now it gets interesting.

Put that biga/poolsh into a bowl, and add 2 cups of water, and a teaspoon of yeast. Mix it all up, preferably with a dough hook, and now add 4 cups of bread flour and a tablespoon of salt. Mix this all up for two minutes, then let the whole thing rest for 20.

Let's stop here and look at what we've got here. We've used 3 cups of water, and 5.5 cups of flour. This is important to note. The standard type of bread we buy for sandwiches is made with a ratio of one cup water to three cups flour. We've gone, from 1:3, to 3:5.5. Those of you who are mathetmatically inclined will see that we have a very wet product here. Indeed, we do. And this is going to be an important factor in what follows.

After the 20 minute rest, mix this batter (closer to that than a dough) for - ready for this - about 15-17 minutes with a dough hook. Your mixer will be fine because the dough is so loose. You will wonder, with good reason, is this going to work? It will look almost like flour soup. Worry not. Just be calm and patient. Cover the thing with a lid, and let it rise for an hour. After that hour, wet your hand (you need to. Trust me), punch it down, flip the thing over, and let it rise for another 45 minutes or so. In that time, preheat your oven, to 475.

After the second rise, get ready, because here's where things get messy. Get a baking sheet, and make sure it's well covered with parchment. Have parchment go up over the sides of the baking pan. Also, take a sheet and crumble it, into a long roll. Put about 1/2 cup of flour all over the parchment.

Now, dump about a solid cup and a half of flour onto a board, flour your hands, and pour the batter out onto the flour. It will pour easy, and it will look like a mess. With good reason. Start molding the stuff into one, long rectangle, about 10x18, with the smaller end facing away from you. Get a knife, a bench knife, or something like that, and cut it in half. Flour your hands again, and move each piece to the baking sheet, and put the crumbled paper in between them. Try to form the pieces into a sort of long elipse, with a rounded end at each end. Now leave this alone, covered, for another hour.

You'll need that time to clean up the mess you made, and you're still going to be doubting that this will work. Trust me, ragazzi, trust me. Just before the hour is over, take a small pan and put it at the bottom of your oven. Dump 3-4 ice cubes into it, and get a pot of water boiling. While the water is coming to a boil, get your sharpest knife, or a razor, and cut a long slit down each loaf. When you've done that, pour a cup of boiling water into that pan, put the bread loaves into the oven, shut the door, and go away for 3 minutes. Then come back and pour in another half a cup. Close the door, and check after 20 minutes. You may need to rotate the loaves if your oven heats unevenly. Let the loaves bake for a total of 45-50 minutes. You'll be a bit surprised how they rise.

When they're done, let them cool on racks, and brush as much of the extra flour off of them as you can.

These loaves will NOT keep for long, if you insist on fresh bread. If, however, you like croutons, crostini, panzanella, and all the other wonderful things Italians do with stale bread, you will not mind. Use them for wonderful sandwiches. This bread is absolutely fabulous with sausages, prosciutto , or any of the stronger flavored fillings you know of. I would not want to use it with cheese, it just doesn't taste the same, but if that's what you like, feel free. Or, just eat the bread as it is. That's what I would do...