French Medieval Bread Fou�es

fx

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 18:07:50 GMT

Thanks Rosa, congratulations on your new blog!

Rosa

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 15:00:01 GMT

Wonderful! Just realised that you are blogging again. Have missed your lovely posts.

Cheers,

Rosa (Rosa"s Yummy Yums, now Reveries, Brambles & Scribbles))

fx

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 21:14:05 GMT

Thanks for your kind words Christian, I hear you have some really great chefs in Denmark! And lots of other cool things including fantastic TV fiction

Christian Elling

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 11:51:23 GMT

Looks delicious!

Great to see the page (and you) back in action - you have been greatly missed! Thank you for many an inspiration through the years - believe me when I tell you, it is much needed in Denmark, considering our "cuisine".

Kind regards from Christian

fx

Sat, 2 Apr 2016 20:28:31 GMT

Thanks Cynthia!

Cynthia

Sat, 2 Apr 2016 17:33:29 GMT

What a treat!

fx

Fri, 1 Apr 2016 17:51:07 GMT

Peo there will be several posts about my oven - no worry. Your having waited for 7 years for my return shows that you have the patience. The cost will not be covered as I am still trying to forget about that! But for one who is not shy of working with his hands there are several ways of building a really affordable bread oven. Good planning is accessible to all who research, draw and think long and hard before laying the first brick!

Peo

Fri, 1 Apr 2016 13:12:03 GMT

Could we have a whole post about the oven please - How you build it, cost, materials, lots of pictures etc.?

Thank You, it"s great to have you back posting.. and so frequently too!

fx

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 15:14:18 GMT

Thanks Simona!

Simona

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 20:55:48 GMT

Delightful,as usual! :)

fx

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 12:36:11 GMT

Thanks Elena, no problem an article will be made in due course, it is a rather complex project and the oven is unique in several respects so I will need time. Thanks for visiting!

Elena

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 11:10:43 GMT

Dear FX,
I am so happy to see you back!
Do you think of sharing here your knowledge of building the oven? It would be really helpful, especially made by you, as you are notorious for perfecting the result.

fx

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 06:34:08 GMT

Hello Mark, thanks for your visit! I loved your TV show on Arte, the part with the elephant crushing the fruit in India is priceless! Yes this bread would work great with such toppings and recycled as crostini the next day. Let me know if you come near Switzerland!

fx

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 06:31:51 GMT

Thanks Claudio, indeed I agree, a wood oven is really magical. Now there are already several articles that mention it and I need to refrain myself so that the majority of my readers, who do not have this kind of oven, do not feel excluded. But you"ll see it plenty. How do you season the meat and at what stage do you put it in the descending heat?

fx

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 06:29:21 GMT

Oh but I will do more than one post, don"t worry! Just wait until I sort out a few of the fanciest parts so that everything is like I dreamt it would be.

fx

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 06:28:10 GMT

All roads eventually lead to FXcuisine! Thanks for remembering me

fx

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 06:22:21 GMT

And it sure is!

Frank

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 05:29:30 GMT

Thank you. Looks tasty.

TFP

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 03:48:39 GMT

Dear Francois, it"s so good to see you"re back! I"ve been following your blog since 2009 (I found it after searching for a Hypocras recipe)... Thanks for doing what you do!

Itchy

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 03:35:21 GMT

FX,could you possibly do a blog post on the construction of your wood oven? Thanks!

Claudio

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 00:15:02 GMT

Dear Fran�ois
Good to see your site alive again !
A few ideas:
1. a series of articles about wood fire oven cooking. It"s a special magic, colors, scents, pleasure of cooking on fire ...
2. I have been using my oven for more than 20 years, and one must after a night of pizza baking with friends is to clean the hot oven, and put some meat wits bones that usually takes hours to bake in it over night, until the next day lunchtime. The result is outstanding, provided tou use aluminum foils to prevent the meat to dry&burn. Close the oven and leave the meat until short before serving, then leave it w/o the foil just to get some color.
3. Did you ever try the bread fou�e with some filling (like cheese) ?
Rgds

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 20:13:01 GMT

Thanks a lot, yes the fire, yeast and baking itself is quite an all-senses show!

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 20:11:42 GMT

Thanks Deb, that is proof enough. All you need is stretch and throw them in the oven!

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 20:09:47 GMT

Ah well it surely does deserve an article - or even a few - but first I need to finish a couple things!

Catherine

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 18:50:29 GMT

Looks delicious! Perhaps the process of building the wood oven deserves its own post sometime?

Deb

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 17:32:54 GMT

The word "proving" is perfectly correct and possibly more commonly used here in the UK than "proofing," which is more common in America. So nice to have you back.

Foodhunter Mark Brownstein

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 17:13:49 GMT

Cheers Maestro,
I love this and will try it in a friends oven in Italia , this will be superb with the Porchetta de Monte in our town, and of course id serve the bread with roasted peppers, olives, cheeses, white anchovies, and as crostini,
Bravi, Buon lavoro, Buon aperitivo, buona fortuna
Foodhuntermark

Jill

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 15:44:20 GMT

Mouth-watering pictures, I can almost smell the bread cooking. And you were right the first time - it is "proving" for bread.

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:32:53 GMT

This proves I need proofreading! All corrected now - thanks a lot!

But an indoor wood fired oven gets used a hundred times more often than its outdoor brother. All you need is the mouth to gape into the wall, no need for an ugly pizzeria-style dome covered in horrible tiles inside the living room - that"s the bit that can go between two walls or just outside.

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:31:21 GMT

Thanks Siri!

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:30:22 GMT

Yes great bread too, a good recipe it is. You need to get those tiles as hot as possible. Let me know how you fare.

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:29:46 GMT

Oh that must have been quite a memorable bread! Cooked directly in the ashes and then sand. Very nice.

Michael

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:19:04 GMT

Congratulations for this posting, very well presented!
I spent a night in the Sahara Desert with my Berber Guide concocting a Dough & then lighting a fire with wood, when the embers began to glow he placed the flattened dough on to the embers & covered the whole thing with Sand! Made great tasting Bread!

Sue

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:17:48 GMT

I"ve been making Jim lahey"s no knead bread using a cast iron pot. Success! I have no wood iced oven, but I put tiles in mine and get to 475F. I think I"ll give this a try. Thanks.

Siri Gottlieb

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:17:22 GMT

Gorgeous writing and pictures. Thrilling! Thank you!

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 13:51:23 GMT

Aye, I built it brick by brick with a friend who works construction but had never done an oven before. All schematics and on site drawing by me. A really beautiful experience but not something you finish over the week-end!

Beatrice

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 13:42:06 GMT

Francois, lovely pictures...two tiny corrections: "proofing" on the first page (not proving) and "microscopic" on the second. I will be erecting an outdoor wood-fired oven in our new house!

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 13:34:56 GMT

Thanks Shaun!

name Michael

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 13:32:39 GMT

Beautiful photos as always. Did you build your oven from scratch or did the brick dome arrive pre-built?
I, too, have yearned for a wood-fired oven and am exploring options!

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 13:12:28 GMT

Thanks a lot Paul!
I think the photography on this one is not too bad but still not totally satisfied (am I ever?)

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 13:11:25 GMT

Thanks Ashleigh! I must say that effortless it is not ... lots of tweaking and thinking about spoilt breads until one gets to the right heat in such an oven. With an electric oven things are much more predictable, but the temperature and heat retention of the sole is not enough for certain things. But oh how very romantic to look at the dough slowly rising with the fire creaking and cracking in the background!

Ashleigh Haze

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 13:05:32 GMT

Another wonderful article Monsieur-you have a real knack for being informative, in a manner which seems effortless. This struck a chord with me specifically as I have spent years messing with bread recipes too, and temperature is certainly a big issue. Although I am very happy with my current recipe and bake at least once a week I do long for the effortless heat of a real wood-fired oven.

Shaun

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 12:57:20 GMT

Hi Fran�ois,

I"m very happy you are back Online!

Paul

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 12:53:32 GMT

Always enjoy your recipes and fantastic photography - a real joy every time, thank you !

fx

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 12:07:54 GMT

Thanks Susanne

Susanne

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 11:56:34 GMT

Wow, beautifully made.