Browse Category

French/Spanish/Portuguese

Sourdough Auvergne Rye Loaf/Tourte de Seigle (France)

Rye %: 100%
Stages: Stage 1 sponge, Stage 2 sponge, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture
Start to Finish: 14-16 hours
Hands-on Time: 25-30 minutes
Yield: Two 1¾ lb/800 g loaves

A couple of months ago, I posted a recipe for this Auvergne classic that used both a rye sour sponge and a yeasted rye sponge. Then I came across a video from the École internationale de boulangerie for this same bread, but built on a sour sponge only. Of course, me being me, I had to bake it as well – both for my own curiosity and also because I was teaching a rye baking workshop for the Bread Bakers Guild of America and needed about 2 lb/900g of stale rye bread, which I didn’t have on hand. This bread, being 100% rye and devoid of flavoring agents outside of salt, was the perfect candidate for staling (with enough left over for comparison tasting with my earlier loaf). Keep Reading

Auvergne Rye Loaf/Tourte de Seigle (France)

Rye %: 100%
Stages: Sour sponge, Yeasted sponge, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture, Instant yeast
Start to Finish: 15-17 hours
Hands-on Time: 20-25 minutes
Yield: Two 1½ lb/700 g loaves.

Considering that Tourte de Seigle is one of France’s classic rye loaves, I felt that at some point it was a must-bake, and our plans for a New Year’s Eve gathering offered the perfect excuse. Most of the recipes I’ve seen for this traditional 100% rye bread from France’s Auvergne region are built exclusively on a sour rye sponge. This version, which comes from Christian Maurice, bread instructor at Paris’ Ferrandi Culinary Academy, uses both a sour sponge and a yeasted rye sponge, which moderates the acidity of the finished loaf and lets the sweet spiciness of the rye shine through. Keep Reading

Auvergne Rye/Pain Seigle d’Auvergne

AuvSeig_slice

Rye %: 73%
Stages: Stage 1 sponge, Stage 2 sponge, Final dough
Leaven: Rye sour culture
Start to Finish: 36-48 hours
Hands-on Time: 35-45 minutes
Yield: Two 1½ lb./700 g loaves

It recently occurred to me that most of the breads I’ve posted have been German and Eastern European, with an Alpine and Swedish bread thrown in for variety. But, in fact, those breads don’t begin to scratch the surface of rye’s diversity, so in the interest of broadening the map, I chose a French rye for my latest bake.

“A French rye?” you say. “Rye from the land of baguettes  and batârds; épis, fougasses and boules?” To which I reply, “Indeed; for the French were eating rye long before wheat, and the rye traditions are still strong along the sandy coastal plains of Normandy and Brittany, the Basse-Alpes region of Provence, and in the Auvergne, which centers on the Massif Centrale – the vast volcanic highland that dominates south central France and accounts for about 15% of its total area.
Keep Reading