I always looked forward to Sunday nights when I was young. That was when Public Television hosted a few hours of the best British shows of all time. These shows taught me that another, more cultured civilization existed across the great ocean as our big Magnavox with faux wood trim beamed Benny Hill and Monty Python’s Flying Circus into our packed living room. I never understood Benny Hill’s humor but because I was at the height of puberty AND his show always featured a quick shot of a woman taking her blouse off, I was riveted. Monty Python on the other hand, was just downright outrageous. The part I enjoyed the most was when John Kleese announced “AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!”
This summer Chef Nally and myself have been using local, organic ingredients to make some killer schiacciata as well as pizza and bread like the “Triple Pork Paradise,” (above left) featuring imported pancetta, Harmony Hollow Farms pork belly and King Family bacon paired with fresh spinach from Rich Organics, provolone, local maple syrup and Blackberries from Vest Berries. On the right is our Tuscan Schiacciata with mozzarella, provolone, fresh Amish Basil from Chesterhill, fresh mozzarella and small heirloom tomatoes, (that taste like candy,) from Cowdery Farms in Longbottom Ohio.
And now for something else completely different… All apologies blokes, but this entry is about fougasse. It’s a bread made famous in the south of France, essentially a flatbread formed in the shape of a leaf or wheatstalk.
Today I have two styles that I sold this week; a boomerang-shaped fougasse with pearl onion, King Family bacon and Cowdery Farms pablano peppers, (Right picture.) and a sunburst fougasse with basil, La Quercia lardo, blueberries and pistachio nuts, (Left picture.) Optimally, lardo is the fat from the back of a pig that has been fed only acorns and apples the last three to six months of his/her fantastic life, but the best Italian lardo is from pigs that also are allowed to watch cable reruns of Mr. Ed and Green Acres for at least six months!
Here is also an insightful trip into the nocturnal activities of a pizza madman and his outrageous breads. This is another reason for you to stay in school, get a degree and stay away from really hot ovens.
Thank you for hanging out with me. I promise next time I won’t use the term “Glorious,” (I get carried away.)
