TASTE
Baking plantation-style bread easier in your modern oven
| • | Bread, sweat and fears |
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
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You don't need a forno — a Portuguese wood-burning oven — to bake good bread that will remind the old folks of times past and impress the young folks with how different homemade bread is from the processed kind. Serve either of these breads warm from the oven and you don't need butter or jam! Both go very well with soup — the Portuguese staple supper. Many years ago, after we realized that Grandma's recipe had died with her, I got my mother to ask Hawaiian Electric Co. on Maui for a good recipe for Portuguese bread. The home economist sent this recipe with a hand-written note saying, "The best I've tasted." This is a half recipe because most of us don't have a need for five loaves of bread at a time. I tested this recipe multiple times last week. While it came out beautifully each time, it was sweeter and richer than I wanted (the original recipe suggested 1/2 cup sugar and I also foolishly used butter-flavored shortening because I happened to have some on hand). I was looking for a savory, plain loaf that would duplicate those I remembered from my childhood.
Bread-baking is a bit of a learned art; it takes a while to be able to tell when the dough really is kneaded enough and when the bread is done — though using an instant-read thermometer can remove the guesswork. If you're a novice, read the recipe carefully several times and pay attention to the clues given as to how the bread should look and feel at each stage.
JULIA SOUSA'S PAO BRANCO (WHITE BREAD)
By hand: In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. Cut in shortening as for pie crust, using a pastry cutter or two knives or forks, until fully incorporated. Beat in very warm water, beating until the dough sticks together and cleans the side of the bowl. Add water or flour in very small amounts, if needed. Turn dough out onto floured board and pound and knead dough vigorously until it is smooth and elastic — 25-30 minutes.
With a stand mixer: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment, combine all dry ingredients. Add shortening and cut in shortening, mixing on lowest speed. Switch to the dough hook. Add very warm water and mix on lowest speed until fully incorporated. Increase speed to mix vigorously until dough clumps around dough hook and is smooth and elastic. Add water or flour in very small amounts, if needed. Turn out on floured board and knead 5-8 minutes.
However you process it, the dough is ready when it appears slightly puffy. It should not stick to your hands or the board and should bounce back if you press with a finger. Let rise in an oiled bowl, covered with a kitchen towel or oiled plastic wrap, until tripled in bulk — a couple of hours. Punch down and shape into loaves; place on oiled or oil-sprayed cookie sheet. Cover again with towel or oiled wrap and let rise again until doubled in bulk.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees during rising. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Bread is done when it is a tannish-brown, sounds hollow when you thump it on top, and doesn't cave in when you press on the side with a finger. To be absolutely sure, use an instant-read thermometer and bake until the internal temperature reaches 210 degrees. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 2 round 9-inch loaves; about 14 slices.
When we began talking about baking bread in the wood-burning oven at Hawaii's Plantation Village, I suggested we not make pao doce — sweet bread — because it wasn't the daily bread of the Portuguese people. It's a special-occasion food, calling for lots of butter, sugar and eggs, and so considered too rich and expensive for everyday. The daily breads included pao branco (white bread, above) and a yeast-raised cornbread called broa. Mark Okumura, Alan Wong's Restaurant pastry chef, experimented with this version, from a book by Ann Kondo Corum. He described it as "very lean" — and liked it as a hearty accompaniment for soup. Dan Nakasone, who helps Alan Wong find and develop food sources, took some to a cowboy friend out in Waialua, Cliff Moniz, and Moniz confirmed that it tasted just like the good old days.
This bread is made in 9-inch cake pans and rises only about 2- 2 1/2 inches high.
Serve it in wedges.
BROA
Pulverize cornmeal in blender or food processor until it is very fine. Combine 1 cup cornmeal, salt, and boiling water; mix until smooth. Stir in 3 teaspoons olive oil and allow mixture to cool. Dissolve yeast and sugar in lukewarm water. Set aside until yeast doubles in volume. Stir yeast into cornmeal mixture. Gradually add the remaining cornmeal and 1 cup flour, stirring well. Form dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover with a dishtowel and set dough in a warm place until double in bulk. Coat a 9-inch round pan with the remaining olive oil. Turn dough onto a floured board and knead 5 minutes, adding as much of the remaining flour as you can until the dough is firm, but not stiff. Shape into a flat, round loaf. Place in the pan and cover with a towel. Let rise until double in bulk. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 40 minutes or until golden.
Makes 2 loaves.
Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.
