danlepard

Anthony Silverman has an interview/podcast with me about the photography I did for the Giorgio Locatelli book just out (and we talk about baking too, inevitably) that might be of interest: http://www.silverbrowonfood.com Dan

Thank you so much for these links. Now it looks like I wont get into town as I'll be working in Leipzig and will just have to travel from Berlin airport without a detour. But I will get there in the next few months. Thanks. regards Dan

What bakeries would you suggest for excellent rye bread? Are there any local young artisan bakers of interest, or older established bakers that are still good? Dan

Does anyone have any "must see" bakeries, pastry shops or interesting food shops thay can recommend in Berlin. Will be there for a few days next week. Is there a really good berliner (doughnut) to be found? Dan

I use this malted chocolate frosting on a malted chocolate banana cupcake recipe here: http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=940 It swirls and pipes very well (I rushed the pic above and just spread it on with a knife), doesn't really set beyond a slight edge and holds well at room temperature, is a dark chocolate colour and not too sweet: 150g sugar 50ml water 150g dark chocolate 75g powdered sugar (replacing the malt powder in the original recipe) To make the fudge 150g sugar with 50ml water in a saucepan and boil to a dark golden caramel. Add the cream and whisk until smooth then beat in the 150g chocolate and powdered sugar. Leave until cold then whisk until thick.

Of course, I remember now. I'll go to Donna Margherita and try one. I do notice in Italy that there does seem to be care and thought put into food preparation of a sort I don't see here in kitchens, and I wonder if that is it, even more than the oven. regards Dan - hoping to get a wood-fired oven in the garden very soon

What I would give to have one pizza of this calibre here in the UK. Our pizzas are uniformly awful, nothing to match even the middle-rated ones in New York. Here they're all tough, doughy, heavy crusted saucers over-topped and lacking that blisteringly scorched edge. Pizza Napoletana, that is a mighty fine crust. Is the dough quite mature and/or soft when you bake it? Dan

edit***have just looked at amazon.co.uk and they're listing it as in stock now. I can't really see that the amazon.co.uk delivery time is accurate, it must just be that they don't have their full number of orders, or that they have already allocated their advance copies and need a second shipment to fill later orders (these are only guesses). The book is in some of the bookshops. Waterstones has it, but only at the full cover price. I'd go after amazon as they're offering a hefty (50%) discount. Dan

Hello El bundy, It is slowly getting into the distribution system, from the warehouse to the shops, but this can be a slow process some times. Especially in/from the UK. In the US they seem to have couriers and mail ordering down to a art form, but here in the UK it grinds along bumpily. The other thing, that might cause the mail-order companies to pause, is that the book is much bigger and heavier than anyone expected, coming in at just over 2.6kg. So it's other kitchen uses - you can wrap it in foil to weight that gravlax, press a terrine - are endless. Postage/shipping might be a bit steep. Just thought I'd warn you. regards Dan

That looks great, is the dough rolled, a line of filling down the middle, the edges cut then folded back over the filling? Dan

Hello John, Giorgio Locatelli became the "chef to watch" as soon as he left the Savoy (where he was sous chef) to run his first kitchen at Olivo, a restaurant in Pimlico. Partly that his food was full of vigour at a time when most Italian food in London was heavy and stodgy, partly his looks (he was, and is, a handsome man), his youth and the fact he was an Italian cooking Italian food in London. Though there were others trying to demonstrate the lightness and freshness of Italian food, in London in the early 1990s - like Alastair Little, and Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray - Giorgio was "the Italian" doing it. A while after than he was tempted by Claudio Pulzo, a restaurateur in London, to open his own place that would be a hybrid of the food he'd trained to do - at Tour d'Argent and Laurent in Paris, and at the Savoy - together with more simple dishes that reflected his mothers cooking and taste. So they found a site in Knightsbridge, where an old fish restaurant (Wheelers) had been, just gave it a lick of paint inside and replaced the windows outside, and called it "Zafferano". This is where I came in. I'd opened St. John (as the head pastry chef / baker) after having spent the previous year line cooking in New York (at a place called VIX with Patricia Yeo in Soho, at a little place called Dakota Bar on the upper west side, and then back to open that Portuguese restaurant that VIX became for a couple of months), and Giorgio kept saying to me, "come with me, do this restaurant", and so eventually I gave in and took the job (again as head pastry chef, but without the bread) and we opened the restaurant. Unlike St. John, which opened to very few customers until the end of the first month when the reviews came out, Zafferano was packed as soon as it opened. Customers just came in and sat down as if we'd been there always. So it was hard work starting that way, and I haven't encountered an opening like it since (the one month lull is typical). I remember him as a remarkable chef, especially then when we had so little equipment to work with in the kitchen and he would was really inventive (as chefs are in that situation) both in method and res-using old bits of kit. After I left, Giorgio opened a few more restaurants for Claudio before deciding to do his own thing. About 8 - 9 years later he was approached by the Intercontinental group to take over a tired old site in a slightly off the radar hotel called The Churchill (but in a great location, somehow it had just gone unnoticed). This time the money was there to build a great kitchen, and so I went in as baker to help on the opening. And the restaurant was, and still is, a great success. As soon as I can I get cooking and post some pictures here. regards Dan

what great loaves, guys! But what I will never understand is why a home baker can produce such great bread while so many commercial bakers won't (rather than "can't"). Dan

Kit, Very few US cookbooks are re-printed in foreign editions, for many reasons. There appears to be a general view held by editors that if a cookbook is to sell well in the US, the content needs to be "familiar" to the US market. So once the author is persuaded to make the content "very American", it's then very costly to translate that theme into a general book suitable for a world market. As the best strategy is always to choose your market and sell heavily to it, I can't imagine a US publisher being concerned whether they can sell foreign editions or export as the US market is large enough to give an excellent return if you get it right. The appeal of these values dwindle away from America just because the references are very specific to the US. US cookbooks are very heavy on text, which I love, but it becomes very costly to translate. I'm told that anything over 40,000 words per 200 pages gets too costly for many publishers who need to translate the text into another language. Here in the UK, when publishers aim to sell the rights for foreign language editions, this is planned from the beginning. The type design will allow space at the bottom of the page, so languages that run longer (like German) wont affect the design. This is important because the book text is on a separate plate to the four-colour printing, so that each foreign language publisher only has to remake the text plate. Also, in many markets outside the US, heavily illustrated books sell better than text ones. So a publisher will be less inclined to go to the expense and trouble if the sales aren't expected to be good. Design is an issue too. Often the typography is too fussy in a way that doesn't sell well in Europe, but would be very expensive to change. The covers aren't too much of a problem as they are altered easily. And way down the list is volume measurements, like cups and spoons. I believe that the reason editors in the US prefer their use is much more complicated than "nobody in America uses scales". Many readers tell me that they find recipes that use cup and spoon measures "sound easier" and are reassured by its homeliness. There is also the view, expressed by many posters in this forum, that metric is un-American. And they're right, it is. Whereas here in the UK I have the opposite problem. I get emails from readers saying, "well, as soon as I saw '1/2 tsp fresh yeast' in the ingredients I just gave up" or recently "why do you insist [in your newspaper column] measuring butter in spoonfuls?". I'm not sure it's solved by using cups/spoons and grams as it just alienates one or other of the readers. I really like Dorie Greenspan, and will get this one shipped over from Amazon in the US. So Russell, what are the highlights? b x Dan

I'll be there on the Thursday night that week. The menu barely changes but it's good, simple stuff. Just lovely. Dan

Elizabeth Luard's book on truffles http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0711224935 I have no connection with it, but it's on my list. It should be great.

Melissa, I would use a mixture of leaven and yeast just to give the dough a little tang. Something like this: 100g active white leaven refreshed 50:50 water/flour 200ml water at 20C (68F) 1/4 tsp dry active yeast, mixed with 50ml warm (38C) water and a tbsp flour and left for 15 minutes 325g strong white bakers flour 10g (1 3/4 tsp) sea salt 75ml extra virgin olive oil You could leave the yeast out but, of you do, don't start folding the garlic in until you see clear signs of bubbles forming in the dough (probably after 3 - 4 hours at 20C - 25C) regards Dan

sounds excellent.

There is a 20-page bread section, and you're right, Carlovski - I kept out of it. Partly that I had enough to do, but also because the restaurant has a baker (Federico Turri) who has his way of doing things. Also, I have an Italian baking book in mind to start at the end of 2007 (for release Autumn 2008) so I wanted to keep my own ideas out of this one. Jack, I would go with amazon uk to buy a copy as they're offering a whopping 50% off the cover price at the moment. Dan

Hello everyone, As it becomes available in Canada, Asia and Australia and the UK over the next few months I thought you might like to have an advance peek at the long-awaited Giorgio Locatelli book, "Made in Italy". http://www.danlepard.com/giorgio/pdf (the page that comes up contains links to early adobe acrobat pdf files of some of the pages, containing low-res image scans and text before final proofing that may contains errors). Although there will be some imported copies of the book in the US, it is possible that there will be an Americanised edition so the US distribution might be delayed until the rights are decided. I worked as the photographer on the book (an old hat of mine) and for everyone involved it's been an immense challenge over the last 4 years. The book is part biography, in small 3 - 6 page sections that precede each chapter, and the rest is recipes and essays on ingredients. It's 600+ pages, hundreds of photographs, quite extraordinary. We took on the task of making a "chefs book for the home kitchen" and I hope achieved a good balance, as I didn't want the book to either ignore the fact that Giorgio is a restaurant cook, nor give the impression of some wincingly contrived set up in a pretend home kitchen. I tried to keep it real always, and as raw as possible even if that bordered on brutal and plain. There were no home economists or prop stylists, but just chefs and home cooks throughout Italy as well as Giorgio preparing and cooking food while I dashed about capturing it on film (rather than digital). I hope that this documentary style will be useful and honest. A copy arrived yesterday and I'm still at the point where it's just like an object, as it's a beautiful book to hold and feel. I'll do some cooking from it this weekend and post the pictures here. regards Dan

Hi everyone, Here it is, the refashioned, corrected garlic bread recipe, fresh out of the oven in my kitchen here at home and on it's way to the neighbours any minute now (we get a bit of a baking glut in our house). Starting with the money shots: The changes: For the pre-ferment I've separate the ingredients and method from the main recipe, meaning that you could substitute the same weight and consistency of sourdough starter for the pre-ferment (lengthening the times for the final dough accordingly, probably stretching the total final dough time to about 3 - 5 hours depending on the temperature). As is, I've halved the yeast and used a little more than half the water and a just over a third of the flour. This means that there is much more flour left (for the yeast to ferment) when you mix your final dough. The pre-ferment water temperature is much higher, which get the yeast activated quicker. After about 2 hours the number of yeast cells in the pre-ferment will have doubled For the garlic filling I've increased the amount of water and reduced the quantity of sugar (I never liked it too sweet). Other than that I've left it almost the same. Don't see where the excess liquid comes from, after 5 minutes even with the increased water barely any syrup remains. But to be sure I've added that the liquid should have reduced to a "thick caramel". For the dough Here I've dropped the '00' flour and used all strong white bakers flour instead to simplify it. I would add the substitution of a small amount of '00' in place of the strong white flour in the main dough (which will make the crust a little crisper, but will require less water in the mix) as a suggestion rather than 'a must' in the recipe. As the recipe now uses 100% strong white bakers flour I have increased the water in the dough by 50ml. For all you percentage lovers reading this makes the water in the final dough 80% of the total flour weight. I've introduced 3 short kneads in the bowl at 10 minute intervals. I find this produces a great result without affecting the dough temperature - energetic slapping, kneading and flicking the dough wont give a better result, possibly a worse one, but might give you a satisfying buzz - hey, whatever rocks your boat. for the mixing and folding I've introduced three short 10 sec kneads at 10-minute intervals at the beginning, then left the dough for 30 minutes, gave it one stretch-and-fold, then left it another 30 minutes before adding the garlic. This means the garlic is added after 1 hour rather than 3 hours, so the dough is much more lively before it goes into the oven. for the baking Few ovens can reach 250C! The baking time is simply wrong. Far too high, and far too long. Bake at 200C for 25 - 30 minutes, or until a good deep golden brown. for the pre-ferment 200ml water, at about 35C - 38C (95F - 101F) 1 tsp fast acting yeast 200g strong white bakers flour for the dough 225ml water at 20C (68F) 325g strong white bakers flour 10g sea salt 75ml extra virgin olive oil for the garlic filling 3 heads garlic, separated 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 50ml water 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons caster sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 spring fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped for the pre-ferment To easily get the temperature of the water roughly correct measure 100ml of boiling water and add 200ml cold water, then measure the amount you need from this. Stir in the yeast then, when dissolved, stir in the flour until evenly combined. Leave the mixture covered at about 20C - 22C (warmish room temperature) for 2 hours, stirring the ferment once after an hour to bring the yeast in contact with new starch to ferment. for the garlic filling Break the heads of garlic into cloves and place in a saucepan, cover with boiling water from the kettle and simmer for 3 - 4 minutes. Then strain the garlic from the water, cover the cloves with cold water to cool then peel the slivery skin from the garlic. It's surprising how few cloves you get after peeling so don't be alarmed if "3 heads of garlic" sound like way too much. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan then place the add the cloves to it and cook until they are lightly brown (not burnt) on the outside. If you burn the garlic the flavour is nasty and you will have to start again, or serve it to your friends with a straight face, so watch them carefully. Measure the balsamic and the water then add this to the pan with the sugar, salt, pepper and rosemary. Simmer for 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced to a thick caramel. Scrape into a bowl and leave to cool. The garlic cloves should be tender when pierced with a knife. back to the dough: After 2 hours the pre-ferment should have doubled and look bubbly on the surface. Measure the water into a bowl and tip the pre-ferment into it. Break it up with your fingers until only small thread-like bits remain (this is the elastic gluten you can feel in your fingers) Add the flour and salt then stir the mixture together with your hands. It will feel very sticky and elastic. Scrape any remaining dough from your hands, cover the bowl and leave for 10 minutes so that the flour has time to absorb moisture before being kneaded. Be sure to scrape around the bowl to make sure all of the flour is incorporated into the dough. Pour 2 tbsp olive oil onto the surface of the dough and smooth it over the surface with your hands. Now rub a little oil on your hands and start to tuck your fingers down the side of the dough, then pull the dough upward stretching it out. Rotate the bowl as you do this, so that all of the dough gets pulled and stretched. You'll find that the dough starts to feel and look smoother. Leave the dough in a ball, cover and leave for 10 minutes. Repeat the pulling and stretching of the dough, for no more than about 10 - 12 seconds. You may find that an oiling piece of dough breaks through the upper surface. This isn't a bad thing, but it is a sing to stop working the dough. Cover the bowl again and leave for a further 10 minutes. This time oil a piece of the worksurface about 30 cm in diameter. Oil your hands, pick the dough out of the bowl, place it on the oiled surface and knead it gently for 10 - 15 seconds. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave for 30 minutes. Uncover the dough, oil the worksurface once more and flip the dough out onto it. Stretch the dough out into a rectangle, then fold the right hand side in by a third. Then fold the in by thirds again so that your left with a square dough parcel. Place this back in the bowl, cover and leave for 30 minutes. Lightly oil the worksurface again and stretch the dough out to cover an area roughly 30cm x 20cm. Dot the garlic over the 2/3rds of the surface and then fold the bare piece of dough over a third of the garlic-covered dough (in the pics above I've folded the right-hand piece of dough over). Then roll this fold of dough over so that the remaining garlic-covered piece is covered by dough. Then fold this piece of dough in by a third, as shown in the pics above.... ...then in by a third again. Finally place the folded dough back in the bowl, cover and leave for 30 minutes. Wipe the oil off the worksurface and lightly dust it with flour. Pin the dough out again as above and fold it in by thirds each way. Replace it in the bowl, cover and leave for a further 30 minutes. Pin the dough out again fold it in by thirds each way again as shown. Leave the dough for 10 minutes while you prepare the tray the bread will rise on. Cover a large dinner tray with a tea-towel. Lightly dust it with white flour, then cut the dough into thirds with a serrated knife. Place the dough cut side upward on the tray then pinch the fabric between each so that they stay separated. Cover and leave for 45 minutes while you heat the oven to 200C (same for fan assisted)/390F/gas mark 5-6. I put a large unglazed terracotta tile in the oven and shovel the dough directly onto it with the back of a small cookie tray. It gives a much better finish and perhaps the bread is slightly crisper, but the bread will still be good placed on a tray just before baking. I also put a small tray of water in the bottom of the oven so that the heat is a little moist, which will help the bread to rise and colour. Lightly dust the back of a cookie tray (if you have a stone in the oven) or the surface of a baking tray with semolina or flour. Carefully pick the dough up off the cloth, scooping it in from end to end with your finger then quickly lift it clear of the cloth and onto the tray. Either shovel the dough onto the hot stone, or place the baking tray in the oven, shut the door quickly and bake for 20 - 30 minutes until the loaves are a good rich golden brown

Hello Swisskase, I'd agree with exactly what Aphra said. Must say it all looked very promising, there wasn't a photograph where the dough looked wrong. It's a bit early now (7am) but as soon as the shop aroung the corner opens I'll buy some garlic, and make, photograph and tinker with the ingredients quantities and method description for you here. regards Dan

Dave, Absolutely. It's just the pectin in the apples that holds it together. Look for slightly under-ripe sharp tasting apples as they will contain more pectin than sweet ripe ones. Anthony, it looked as beautiful as that on the plate. Helped by a little morning sunshine. Dan

Hi Pete, Just checked the apple jelly this morning (I find that fruit jellies need to be left overnight before you can judge the setting quality of the fruit accurately). Extraordinary toffee apple flavour. Here is the apple jelly, just spooned onto the plate and then just stirred and dragged across with a spoon. It should work very well with the lemon and thyme flavour you want: regards Dan

what about using an apple jelly as a cooked fruit coulis - 1kg apples (something sharp-tasting but not a cooking apple such as a Bramley. you want the flesh to stay firm after cooking) , chopped into 1cm dice without peeling or coring, cover with 1 litre water, bring to the boil in a non-reactive (not aluminium) pan and simmer for 15 minutes until the fruit is very soft but still in defined pieces. Line a strainer with muslin and pour the apple and cooking liquid through it. Don't press it but just leave it undisturbed for 1 - 2 hours. Return the strained liquid to the pan and boil until reduced by half. Add 500g sugar and boil until the setting point is reached (a tsp of the liquid on a plate left for 5 minutes should feel like jelly when pushed with a finger, probably after 10 - 15 minutes boiling), skimming is lightly towards the end of the cooking time. Then, dilute it just a tiny bit and spoon it over whatever. I'm making some at the moment so the recipe is on my mind. regards Dan

Hello Abra If I wanted to keep the bulk of the liquid used in the dough is cool (at around 20C/68F) - say if the recipe contained a portion of sourdough starter or had chunks of cheese in it - or if the dough-making process is short (under 3 hours), then I would mix the dry yeast with warm water first so it was ready to ferment as soon as the final dough was mixed. Also, it appears that the longer the dough-making process the longer the dough stays fresh-tasting, and I find I prefer the crumb texture in a recipe made with a pre-ferment (what we used to call "a sponge" in the old days) than one made with all of the yeast mixed in at once. But that's only possible if you have the time spare. There are times you have to make a loaf very quickly, and in that case I'd keep the liquid used to mix the dough warm and chuck everything in at once. I will try to redo a step-by-step with pics of the garlic bread for the baking forum here when I can. regards dan