Herb blossom fougasse

Profile picture for user hungryscholar

I've been fascinated with the fougasse shape ever since reading about it in one bread book or another, but I finally got to see some examples "in the wild" when visiting Nice earlier this Spring, where it seemed like there was a loaf of bread I couldn't resist at nearly every turn in the maze of narrow streets inVieux Nice. And then there was the socca and pissaladière, but I digress. Here are a couple examples from the market in Nice, one plain, and one filled:

Fougasse in NiceFougasse Provencale

I have a few herbs growing in pots in front of the house and I've been trimming off the blossoms and had a pile of flowering lemon thyme and sage blossoms that I wanted to use that are mixed in the dough which is about 15% medium rye and the rest All Purpose, 70% hydration Lahey style with 1/4 tsp yeast over 10 hours bulk fermentation.

I've made fougasse before but this time tried the shaping technique demonstrated by Ciril Hitz in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSv4nGAuhig

Basically you make the cuts in the dough with a dough blade and then pick up the dough to stretch it out and place on a baking sheet. I love the shapes the cuts take on as a result. That's one thing I find fascinating watching different shaping videos is the sheer variety of different ways to shape even the most fundamental shape such as a boule.

This time I also tried brushing the dough with olive oil & thyme right after I pulled it from the oven. This bread didn't disappear quite as fast as the earlier focaccia, but it still didn't last long.

Now to contemplate the filled fougasse, or maybe a sweet version. There are just too many possible variations!

Profile picture for user v's sis

in Nice is amazing!  I have begun making it at home following David Lebovitz and Mark Bittman's recipes, using a cast iron fry pan and the broiler.  Maybe not a match for that amazing wood oven taste, but pretty good!

Your fougasse looks great!

Leah