French Pain Noir

Three little slices are all that's left of my journey to discover what Pain Noir - black bread - looks like. In one evening by the fire, we mopped up with this richly flavorful beauty of French origin. Yes, we nearly devoured an entire loaf in one sitting - what you see are remains of the day.

Notice, the bread is not black but it's certainly dark, and why not, since there's molasses and bittersweet chocolate in the dough. Mashed potatoes, too. Bernard Clayton, the master baker (now deceased) who shared the recipe in his "The New Complete Book of Breads" volume, suggests that it goes well with cheeses. Might I add that it also goes well with grilled chicken and roasted tomato basil soup paired with a good set of crackling logs? Trust me, it does. (If you make the soup, consider removing the pepper flakes, or plan to add cream and a pat of butter to lighten the fire.)

Now to divulge the truth: Either I messed up this bread by shoving it onto a hot baking stone, or we need to tweak the ingredients, because the dough is extremely hydrated at 88% and quite wet, loose and sticky. It cracked in the oven like Humpty Dumpty's head. During rising, I never saw this bread double in size as the recipe suggests. Who cares, when it comes out so scrumptious? Listen, cracks don't bother me because once you've sliced the bread, nobody knows.

Clayton suggests sprinkling kosher salt on the top before baking to give this bread a savory sensation against the sweetness. For this, I used the Murry River Pink Flake finishing salt, a product of Australia and available at Sur La Table. I went with pink flakes for their color and size, but a smoked Salish or Fleur de Sel would also be "yum toy," as my dear mentor in words Gay Smith used to say.

Next bread to tackle is the Pain de Campagne Poilane, which takes three days from starter and sponge to dough. I've mentioned before that Poilane is the famous bakery in Paris where taste as art is revealed. When I visited one of its outposts on Rue Grenelle last year, they had an Eiffel Tower in the window, entirely made of bread. This recipe is also in Clayton's book, but others also have attempted to capture versions of the legendary country loaf, including Peter Reinhart in "The Bread Baker's Apprentice." For more on the Poilane legacy, check out "The Village Baker" by Joe Ortiz.

All three of these books have now joined me by the fireside, and what good companions they are. Oh, the places we'll dough!