Fougasse from Angers, France
The bread name fougasse means different things in different places. The bread presented here is the one made in a restaurant in Angers, France. Americans who have any association at all with fougasse tend to associate it with Provence and not with the northern part of France. We also tend to think of fougasse as a bread baked into a distinctive shape, usually a ladder. What I present here, then, is the bread as I found it, made with fine white flour in a wood fired oven.
This version of Angers fougasse is a lean bread. There are no enrichments. It has an open crumb with irregular holes and a chewy texture. Large irregular holes are characteristic of white breads made with a sticky wet dough. A chewy texture is characteristic of white bread given that is given a slow rise at a cool temperature. In order to achieve a slow rise — one that might take eight or ten or twelve hours — the bread is typically made with a minimal amount of yeast. This particular bread pictured here did most of its rising in a refrigerator with a digital thermostat so it could be precisely regulated. While they are not cheap, a small refrigerator designed for storing wine would make the perfect bread-rising refrigerator for the home baker.
For the photograph, above, I tore, rather than cut this bread. I did this to highlight the strands of gluten that were visible, even after baking. Strands of gluten as seen in this photograph are another characteristic of a wet dough that has been given a slow — and thus cool — fermentation. When you reach into a wet dough that has been fermenting for many hours, grab a handful of dough, and pull up towards your face you will see a gluten structure similar to what you see baked into this roll.
If you don’t see what I am talking about with respect to strands of gluten, look at the thin strand of dough that crosses the hole near my thumb. Another characteristic of a slow-risen wet dough is that the inside of the holes are shiny. As a rule, dough that rises in a cool place for a long time develops exemplary flavor. To get a long rise, even at a low rising temperature, it is best to start with less than the “normal” amount of yeast.
In this illustration of the breads in the oven you see Angers fougasse at different stages of baking. Flat dough, still uncooked, is nearest the fire. Like chapatti and pita bread, Angers fougasse is baked hot — hotter than would be possible for a loaf bread. Once the dough has set, it is turned over and then puffs up into a ball. This is the same method used to bake flat breads, like chapatti and pita. Unlike chapatti and pita bread, however, this version of fougasse is baked until it collapses and browns. The bread is crisp on the bottom.
It is important to note that the breads are baked with the door of the oven open, and with a fire burning inside the oven.
