Panmarino aka Italian Rosemary Bread

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Panmarino aka Italian Rosemary Bread

This sourdough bread, generous with the fresh rosemary, has a light tender crumb and golden crisp crust topped with a sprinkling of coarse salt.

The revival of this beautiful recipe is connected with the name Luciano Pancaldo, a baker from the town in the north of Italy, Ferrara.
Reading the biographical materials about D'Este family, the rulers of Ferrara at that time, Luciano Pancaldo came across the description of the bread, which was baked for the Dukes. The bread, which was full of rosemary aroma, had a light crumb and golden crust decorated with salt crystals shimmering like diamonds.
Being very inspired by the description he decided to create the recipe for Panmarino.

Panmarino aka Italian Rosemary Bread

adapted from Sourdough

1st Preferment Build	2nd Preferment Build	Dough
12 g 100% Hydration sourdough rye starter 24 g Bread flour 14 g Water	50 g Starter 1st build 94 g Bread flour 56 g Water	200 g Preferment from 2nd build 150 g Water 150 g Milk 1 tsp Malt extract 500 g Bread flour 10 g Salt 40 g Olive oil 30 g Fresh rosemary leaves, chopped Coarse sea salt A handful of ice cubes to create the steam

To prepare the first preferment, mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Cover and leave it at room temperature for 10-12 hours.
To prepare the second preferment, add flour and water to the starter of first build. Mix well. Cover and leave it at room temperature for 10-12 hours.
Dissolve the preferment with water, milk and malt extract in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer. Set aside for 10 minutes while preparing other ingredients.
Add the flour to the liquid mixture. Mix all to form a dough. Allow it to sit for 20-30 minutes. Stir in the salt, olive oil and chopped rosemary into the dough and knead until the gluten develops. Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with a bit of olive oil and return the dough to the bowl. Put it inside a plastic bag and leave it in the fridge overnight.
In the morning (about 6am) of day 3, take out the dough and fold it once and return it to the fridge.
In the late afternoon (about 5pm) of day 3, take out the dough and let it warm to room temperature over the next 4-5 hours as you gently stretch and fold it. I just folded it once every hour for five hours and kept it from drying out by putting it inside the plastic bag in-between folds. The dough should be velvety smooth, moist and blistered by the time it is ready for shaping.
Divide the dough into two portions and shape. I shaped one portion into a boule and one into a baton. Place the boule in a round bread basket dusted with semolina and the baton in a tray dusted with homemade soya meal. You can use the flour or semolina instead. Place each inside a plastic bag and let rise for an hour or so before putting them in the fridge for baking in the morning. Be sure to cover the dough in the fridge so it does not dry out too much.
In the morning (about 8am) of day 4, heat the oven to 250C/500F. Invert the boule onto a baking paper-lined baking tray together with baton. Just before putting the bread into the hot oven, slash the tops in an asterisk with a sharp knife or a razor blade. Sprinkle some sea salt into the cuts.
Place the baking tray with bread in the oven and throw a handful of ice cubes into the bottom of the oven. Close the oven door and bake for 10 minutes at 250C/500F. If you are using a fan-forced oven, then turn the oven off for 10 minutes or the fan would blow all the stem away.
Now set the oven temperature at 210C/410F and bake for 30 minutes longer until nicely golden brown and crusty. Remove the bread and allow them to cool on a wire rack to room temperature before cutting.