BBA -- Ciabatta

Ciabatta; Ciabatta (Italian pronunciation: [tʃaˈbatːa], literally "carpet slipper") is an Italian white bread made with wheat flour and yeast. The loaf is somewhat elongated, broad and flattish and, like a slipper, should be somewhat collapsed in the middle. Since the late 1990s it has been popular across Europe and in the United States, and is widely used as a sandwich bread.

Ciabatta was first produced in Liguria, although at least one type of ciabatta can be found in nearly every region of Italy nowadays. The ciabatta from the area encompassing Lake Como has a crisp crust, a somewhat soft, porous texture, and is light to the touch. The ciabatta found in Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche varies from bread that has a firm crust and dense crumb, to bread that has a crisper crust and more open texture. The more open-crumbed form, which is usual in the United States, is made from a very wet dough, often requiring machine-kneading, and a biga or sourdough starter.

There are many variations of ciabatta. When made with whole wheat flour, it is known as ciabatta integrale. In Rome, it is often seasoned with olive oil, salt, and marjoram. When milk is added to the dough, it becomes ciabatta al latte. A toasted sandwich made from small loaves of ciabatta is known as a panino (plural panini).





Ciabatta is our eighth bread in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge. I was looking forward to making Ciabatta! I am a very enthusiastic sourdough baker and I love using kefir in anything I am baking. I choose to make the biga version and substituted sourdough starter for the yeast and kefir for the milk and I did use EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).

Generally I like working with a very wet dough, but as soon as I mixed up this recipe I knew it was not wet enough and my loaves would not have the large gorgeous holes that I wanted. Could I have added a bit more water or kefir? Yes, but since I'm involved in this challenge to learn I'm trying to stay as close to the Reinhart recipe as possible.





All in all, I was not disappointed in my Ciabatta as it was a good bread and it was fun to do the stretching and folding method during the rise. But next time I make it, I will be experimenting and definitely adding more liquid and a little bit more salt too.

I baked my Ciabatta on a Sunday and served it as an afternoon snack after a day of yard work for both of us. I served the Ciabatta with 2 dips, Romesco Dip and an Olive and Parmesan Dip. Since my husband was home and watched the entire bread process and then smelled the bread baking, he could not wait to give it a try. So I cut the bread when it was warm..so not a good idea!





Google Books has the entire book, "The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread", by Peter Reinhart, scanned and you can find the recipe on Page 135 by clicking here.


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