barbari focaccia

• portioner: One 18" x 13" focaccia

Ingredienser

3 cups (720g) warm water

2-1/4 teaspoons (7g) active dry yeast

½ teaspoon (4g) honey

ó cups minus 1 tablespoon (800g) bread flour

2 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon (20g) kosher salt

Scant 1/4 cup (46g) extra virgin olive oil, plus more for dough handling and the pan

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon nigella seeds

Flaky salt, for sprinkling

Vejledning

In a very large bowl, stir together 2-1/2 cups (600g) of the water, the yeast, and the honey. Let sit for 5 minutes, until frothy.

Use your hands or a large spoon to mix the flour into the yeast mixture until all the flour is incorporated. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let sit for 30 minutes.

Add the remaining ½ cup (120g) water, the kosher salt, and the oil. Use your hands to incorporate. As the dough albsorbs the salt, it will behave sort of strangely, seeming to fall apart - this is fine. Just keep kneading and Squeezing it with your hands - it'll come back together eventually, especially once it has a chance to rest.

Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and set it in a warm spot to continue proofing. Every 30 minutes or so for the next 2-1/2 hours, turn the dough. (Note that each turn consists of four quarter-turns, or folds.) With wet hands, gently loosen the dough from the north side of the bowl. Stretch the dough up until it resists, then fold it toward the south side of the bowl. Give the bowl a quarter- turn and repeat. Repeat twice more to end up where you started. Cover with the damp towel. During this first turn, the dough may not yet be relaxed enough to tolerate all four folds, but do your best. As the dough relaxes, it'll become more elastic, and each turn will be more gratifying!

After about 3 hours total, the dough should be billowy and have doubled in volume. If not, continue to let rise and turn for up to 1 hour longer, moving the bowl to a warmer spot if necessary. After the final set of folds, gather up the edges of the dough into the center as if you're making a massive dumpling, and then carefully flip it to tuck the seam underneath. Gently coat the top of the dough with a little oil, seal the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid, and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

Generously coat the bottom and sides of a half-sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray, then drizzle with 2 to 3 tablespoons oil. Gently transfer the dough to the pan, cover with plastic Wrap or a lid, and set in a warm spot to come to room temperature for 30 minutes.

With lightly oiled hands, gently stretch the dough to fill the pan. Return the pan to a warm spot and allow to proof for 30 minutes.

Gently stretch the dough again to fill the entire pan. Repeat the stretching twice more over the next hour, then continue proofing the dough untouched until it's jiggly, bubbly, and flush with the top of the pan, 1 to 2 hours longer, depending on the ambient temperature. (Don't rush this step--it will make all the difference in getting the tallest, chewiest focaccia possible!)

Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place an overturned sheet pan on it, and preheat to 450°F.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the flour, water, and baking soda. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to a simmer, stirring constantly. Cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the spoon, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and set the glaze aside.

Once the dough is flush with the top of the pan, dip the pads of your fingers in any oil that's pooled in the corners of the pan. Spread your fingers wide like a piano impresario and make dimples across the entire pan of dough, pressing firmly to the bottom of the pan (this is the fun part!). Brush with the glaze, and sprinkle with the nigella seeds and flaky salt.

Place the sheet pan with the focaccia on the Overturned sheet pan in the oven and bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until the corners are pulling away from the pan and the top is golden brown and glistening, If the top needs a little more browning, transfer to the top rack and bake for 3 to 5 minutes longer.

Cool the focaccia in the pan for 5 minutes, then use a thin flexible metal spatula to gently loosen it from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Store for up to 3 days wrapped in a paper bag inside of a plastic bag to prevent the salt from dissolving. Bring back to life with a quick toast. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Notater

In Persian households, breakfast revolves around bread. When I traveled to Iran for the first time at age fourteen, I was baffled by the distinct lack ofa toaster in every home I visited. Then I realized- who needs a toaster when you can get a fresh, steaming-hot flatbread from the corner bakery every morning?

Over the course ot that summer, we traveled back and forth several times between Tehran and my grandparents' citrus orchard in the north. Perched on the lush Caspian coast, their village reminded me a lot of San Diego, where l'd spent my whole life. Unlike my grandmother, my grandfather didn't speak English, so we learned to make do with body language and my third grade-level Farsi. Even so, the bond between US was palpable. And it was us strengthened by our shared love of noon barbari, a thick, chewy flatbread topped with sesame or nigella seeds. Any time | was there, he'd get up early to drive to the next illage to get us barbari from his favorite baker. When he returned, we'd tear off pieces of warm bread to eat with sweet butter and caviar (him) or feta-style cheese and honey (me).

Come to think of it, my lifelong love of chewy, golden barbari explains my enthusiasm for focaccia. To try this barbari variation for yourself, simply brush the dough with a flour and water glaze and a sprinkling of nigella seeds and flaky salt before baking.

USES

For a Persian-Style Breakfast, serve barbari focaccia with Marinated Feta, cucumbers, fresh herbs, Apricot and Noyau Jam, and piping-hot black tea.

SOURCE

good things, by samin nosrat