makes 1 loaf
Bread and cheese is a beloved combination, but too often the bread is just a bit player, something to quiet the palate while keeping your fingers from getting cheesy. To my way of thinking, this is a discourtesy to both the cheese and the bread. When I was the baker at Le Bec-Fin, Georges Perrier was thinking along the same lines when he said to me, “Zach, I want a bread to serve with cheese that truly complements it.”
Having received my assignment, I went to work. Early on I decided to try incorporating raisins and walnuts, which is a classic French combination. If you think about it, after you factor in the salt and acidity in the bread dough, raisins and walnuts give you sour, salty, umami, and bitter—in other words, all five of the basic tastes on the palate. That makes this bread ideal for underscoring the complex flavors and aromas of cheese.
The dough for the 30-Hour Sourdough Loaf, relying as it does on a long-fermented sourdough starter, balances the fattiness of cheese, cutting through it and refreshing the palate after every chew. The “stealth soloist,” is the pink peppercorn: floral, with a touch of spicy heat. It truly does justice to the nuances in taste and texture that make a high-fat, long-fermented cheese, such as Fromager d’Affinois or Roquefort, such a full gastronomic experience.
Merci, Chef Georges!
INGREDIENTS
65 grams (1/2 c + 1 tbsp) walnut halves
65 grams (1/4 c + 3 tbsp) Thompson seedless raisins (or any large, dark raisin)
1 gram (1/2 tsp) freshly ground pink peppercorns
1 recipe 30-Hour Sourdough Loaf, prepared through to the rest after the second stretch and fold
DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Spread the walnuts on a small sheet pan and bake until toasted, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely. Cut into 1/2-inch (1.5 cm) pieces. Put the walnuts in a bowl, add the raisins and pepper, and toss to combine.
2 Once the 30-hour dough has rested for 1 hour after the second stretch and fold, do the third and final stretch and fold. Gently stretch the dough into a rectangle, scatter the walnut mixture evenly over the top, then press the walnuts and raisins gently into the dough (for photos of this process, see Incorporating Add-Ins). Roll up the dough tightly from the end closest to you; at the end of the roll the dough will be seam-side down. Turn it over, seam-side up, and gently press on the seam to flatten the dough slightly. Fold in thirds from left to right and then do 1 roll and tuck sequence to incorporate the walnuts and raisins. Turn the dough seam-side down and tuck the sides under toward the center. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with the towel, and let rest for 20 minutes.
3 Follow all of the remaining steps for shaping, fermenting, baking, and cooling the 30-Hour Sourdough Loaf.
