Grandma's Design

VILLAGE BREAD

GRANDMA

Saadet

COUNTRY

Turkey

ORIGIN

Balkan Peninsula

INGREDIENTS

For the bread starter

200 g bread flour
150 ml water
10 g fresh yeast

For the final bread dough

1 kg Bread flour
20 g Salt
350 ml Water
350 g Starter (should be prepared 1 day before)

HISTORY

Traditionally flat bread (yufka) was the most popular kind of bread prepared by women in Anatolia, because leavened bread was generally prepared by bakers in villages and cities in the Ottoman empire. Homemade leavened bread, which was called “immigrant bread” or “loaf bread” was cooked in earthenware ovens built in the open air in the villages of Anatolia. Immigrants, who had come to Thrace and Anatolia from the Balkans since the end of the Ottoman Empire (late 19th- early 20th centuries), used to build this kind of oven, which was called an “immigrant oven (muhacir fırını)”. This kind of bread, which is prepared with homemade yeast and whole wheat flour, lasts long – at least one week. It is cooked in trays. That’s why this bread is also called “tray bread (tepsi ekmeği)”.

More Minus

HOW TO

Starter Mix the flour, water and yeast well in a bowl and cover it with stretch film. Stand it in a warm place for 4-5 hours.
BreadPlace the flour and salt in a large bowl.Dilute the old dough (starter) with water.Combine all the ingredients together and mix them very well. Knead the dough with your hand until it becomes smooth and elastic. Cover the dough with a tray and rest it to ferment for 60-120 minutes.Knead the dough a second time with your wet hands and divide it into two parts.Place the dough in lightly oiled trays large enough for it to double in size.Allow 60 minutes for the second fermentation in a warm place.Bake in a preheated traditional earthenware oven at 230 C º for about 45 minutes.