We all have our own devices to "let the rest of the world go by" when we are bombarded by troubling news of various kinds. One of our favorite "techniques" is making bread in our wood-burning oven in the garden!
It is always a special occasion which brings excitement and pleasure, a simple gesture of the most basic type: the timeless tradition of making bread.
Over the years we have experimented with many types: onion, rosemary, olive, sesame and garlic...but the pecorino-walnut version is our absolute favorite.
Naturally the quality of the ingredients is of utmost importance: a well-aged, sharp, local pecorino and our own untreated walnuts from one of the trees at the Inn. This time, since we like the way they melt and get crusty, we added small pieces of an aged provolone (Auricchio).
kneading the "massa" after adding the ingredients
preparing the loaves for the rising in a tepid oven
rising in the tepid electric oven as Maurizio brings the wood-burning oven to the right temperature
Maurizio preparing the outdoor wood-burning oven
putting the loaves, working quickly so as not to lose heat, in the readied oven. Experience, NOT a thermometer, tells Maurizio when it is ready!!!!!!!!!
Maurizio built this igloo-like oven himself in his free time about 20 years ago upon advice from one of his ex-workmen, a 90 year- old who was a real expert on this igloo-type technique which ensures the best heat conduction. Even the bricks are a special type which holds/maintains the heat better than most others.
closing the heavy, custom-made cast iron oven door to maintain the temperature as the loaves bake
the perfectly cooked, crusty loaves
pulling out the last loaves
a beautiful AND fragrant sight - right out of the oven
a medieval breadmaking scene which we had reproduced on an outdoor Deruta tile to decorate above our wood-burning oven
the final result - a festa per gli occhi
This bread, toasted, will be our breakfast treat for many weeks to come.
Comments (6)
Maurizio is truly a renaissance man--not many more like him anymore. What a treasure!! And the bread sounds wonderful
Posted by Jane | November 8, 2008 7:06 PM
Posted on November 8, 2008 19:06
Mary - posting those pictures constitutes cruel and unusual punishment for those of us looking at your fabulous pictures. That bread looks absolutely wonderful, and I can almost smell the fragrant combination of melted cheese and heady yeast.
Thanks for sharing the pictures - and congratulations to Maurizio for mastering both the art of building a brick oven, and the art of baking a perfect loaf.
Judy
Posted by tourmama | November 8, 2008 8:01 PM
Posted on November 8, 2008 20:01
Ho l'acqualina in bocca! You are really tempting me Mary!
Posted by janie | November 9, 2008 5:06 PM
Posted on November 9, 2008 17:06
Mary, that bread looks (and sounds) fantastic. I think I would have been devouring a loaf as soon as it was cool enough to touch.
What a beautiful oven and the ceramic above it, so lovely.
Maurizio is truly a Renaissance man!
Hmmmm, I wonder if bread-making might be one of the options during your women's retreat next year?!
Posted by sandrac | November 10, 2008 4:51 PM
Posted on November 10, 2008 16:51
Absolutely, Sandra, we could add bread-making to the Retreat next October-November...!
Wouldn't that be fun???????? The oven is outdoor, an exterior part of the dépendence in our garden.
Mary
Posted by Mary Tacconi | November 10, 2008 10:00 PM
Posted on November 10, 2008 22:00
Oh that looks SO good, I can almost taste it!
Posted by Palma | November 12, 2008 2:56 AM
Posted on November 12, 2008 02:56