Pain de campagne
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Type | Bread |
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Place of origin | France |
Pain de campagne ("country bread" in French), also called "French sourdough",
Before the advent of roller milling, virtually all wheat was milled by stone grinding. In order to produce a lighter, less chewy bread, the whole wheat flour was sifted or bolted using mesh or cloth. This resulted in a whiter flour that still retained some of the bran and germ. The addition of rye flour in some recipes probably originates from the presence of rye growing among the wheat. All the grain was harvested together, and as much as 10 percent of it would be rye. Rye flour ferments more quickly than wheat flour, and it imparts a distinctive flavor to traditional pains de campagne.
With the rise of commercial yeast at the turn of the 20th century, pain de campagne fell out of favor in French cities, where it was replaced by the baguette.[2] However, with the rise of artisan breads in the 1970s,[3] pain de campagne has been growing in popularity, both in Europe and the US.
Today pain de campagne is still made in France, and is enjoying a growing appreciation in the United States and the UK. When made traditionally, the dough is allowed to ferment for several hours, allowing the yeasts to grow and develop the flavors. The dough is then rounded and placed in linen-lined baskets called "bannetons". After the dough has risen, it is dumped out of the basket and onto peel, and slid into the oven where it bakes at around 240 °C (450 °F) for about one hour.
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Pain de campagne melanges (French hard bread with walnuts and various red fruits)
References
External links
Media related to Pain de campagne at Wikimedia Commons