has anybody got any knowledge to share about sourdough breads of Crete? I have just returned from a short holiday and ate some wonderful breads there, and was given a piece of wholewheat sourdough by the baker along with some recipes. The breads he made were remarkably light for sourdoughs, even though he said they contained a lot wholewheat flour. He also mentioned ‘yellow’ flour as an ingredient. I think this may be durum? A bucket of fermenting sourdough looked distinctly yellow. I have also read of chickpea sourdough. Any ideas or pointers would be very welcome!
Hello Lyn,
I write as a frequent visitor to Crete and a baker.
Firstly I'm wondering whereabouts in Crete you were based for your holiday? I know the geography of Crete very well, so please be as specific as you can.
I have just been looking at the Mills of Crete website which is quite instructive. On the wholemeal front they are offering Emmer, an ancient wheat variety which is listed as Dikokko. Also available is Dinkel, which is Spelt. I have bought a much stronger roller-milled wholemeal variety in supermarkets milled by the same company at their mill in Souda, near Chania. I suspect the Emmer may well be grown in Crete, maybe the spelt too, not sure, whereas the strong wholemeal I have used comes from bread wheat varieties traded on the world market. Afterall, and hats off to them for pushing local and traditional, but Mills of Crete is clearly a significant player in the Greek flour milling industry.
You are correct about the yellow flour being Durum wheat, and interestingly the same company is offering a bread variety they call "Mountainous Crete", so clearly locally grown. There are other types of durum listed as well.
And I've come across chick pea sourdough in the form of Arkatena Bread, although that originates from Cyprus. I think it will be very hard to control the fermentation of something so volatile as Garbanzo flour in the hot summer climates of countries such as Greece and Cyprus!
Over the last 12 years I've enjoyed some good bread in Crete from the restaurants and shops, and some poor stuff too. But nothing I would say was outstanding. I have also baked my own breads in wood-fired ovens at 3 or 4 different places we have stayed at over the years, using a sourdough starter and local flour. You can find out more about that here on my blog posts on the Fresh Loaf. There are other posts of wood-fired baking at the same place in there from 2013 as well I think?
My best wishes
Andy
The bakery was in Mirtos on the south coast, near Ierapetra. It was a small family bakery, brother and sister plus two staff I believe, using a deck oven, not wood fired. They made yeast breads, rusks and sourdoughs, though I wouldn't have known they were pure sourdoughs without asking. They had great texture and flavour, but were incredibly light and thin crusted. I also had a brief look at the Mills of Crete site, but I didn't necessarily get the impression they we're using artisan flour. I was surprised to find they had so many different flouyrs too. When I asked about the 'yellow' flour he said it's 'not strong, normal, the cheapest'. I got some instructions but have to say I am confused by them now. He talked of building the starter over several hours adding equal proportions of flour and water every two hours. But I am not sure what flour, he said wholemeal, but it didn't look dark enough for me. I am used to using English stoneground wholemeal, maybe rollermilled makes the difference. The baker gave me a piece of another sourdough starter which was denser and darker. He said this was made with 'dark flour' which made me think the other wholemeal is not 100% wholemeal.
I will take a look at your blog and start from there! Many Thanks for your reply for now!
Cheers
Lyn
p.s. do you speak greek at all? I have a copy of his sourdough build instrctions in greek (they are for the dark sourdough)
Is this the bakery Lyn?
Mills of Crete surely concentrates on industrial flour, but I think the Emmer and the Mountainous Crete Durum will be the exact opposite. I reckon the durum will be from the Diktean mountains not far from where you stayed!?
And so it won't be strong, but it will be a very hard wheat for sure!
My wife Alison reads Greek, so I'm sure we could work out those instructions if you want to send them through. You can message me here on TFL if you like or send an email using our website.
Everything makes sense if you think of the Cretan climate. Building the sour through regular small feeds is a good way to deal with rapid fermentation in hot temperatures.
All good wishes
Andy
Maybe the shade of yellow in that sourdough might remind you of the yellow tint in ordinary dried spaghetti? It's durum too.
Yes I think it must be durum. Though looking at chickpea flours online, these too look the same, but i think they would made a denser bread.
Hello Lyn,
I happen to be Cretan and I love Cretan bread and rusks. We call "yellow flour" a type of wheat flour that is a bit more coarsely ground than regular flour. You could say it's something between flour and semolina.
Chickpea sourdough bread is a Cretan traditional bread made without any yeast, but only with the bacteria that are coming from fermented chickpeas. If you're interested, i have this chickpea starter bread on my blog.
I have also another Cretan traditional church bread we call Artos.
Don't hesitate to leave me a message if you have any other questions!
Makos
My family is from crete as well. Originally from Chania. I have many cousins spread out throughout the entire island. I would love to make paksimadi if anyone has a recipe