Pane di Segale Carnico · Pane di Segale della Carnia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia · bread · serves 10 · 1200 min total · medium
The high villages of Carnia bake rye because wheat won't ripen above 1,000 m. The loaves were kept for weeks on wooden bread racks suspended from kitchen beams; cumin and fennel flavoured the dough and helped digestion of the dense crumb.
Ingredients
- 350 g wholegrain rye flour
- 150 g strong wheat flour
- 400 ml warm water
- 120 g rye sourdough starter
- 11 g fine sea salt
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
Method
- Whisk starter into the warm water. Add flours, salt, and crushed spices. Mix to a sticky paste — rye does not develop gluten like wheat.
- Slap and fold in the bowl for 5 minutes with a wet hand.
- Bulk ferment 4 hours at warm room temperature until visibly bubbled.
- Wet your hands and shape into a tight oval. Roll in rye flour and place seam-down in a floured oval basket.
- Cold-proof in the fridge 12 hours.
- Heat oven to 240°C (465°F) with a tray of water on the floor.
- Turn the loaf onto a peel, slash with a deep diagonal cross, and bake 15 min at 240°C, then 45 min at 200°C (390°F) until very dark.
- Wrap in a clean tea-towel as it cools. Wait at least 24 hours before slicing — the flavour and structure both improve.