Pane Nero Valdostano · Pain Noir de la Vallée d'Aoste
Valle d'Aosta · bread · serves 10 · 240 min total · medium
The Coumba Frèide villages used to bake just twice a year, drying the loaves on wooden racks under the rafters. By February the bread had to be split with an axe — soaked back to life in soup or melted fontina.
Ingredients
- 400 g wholegrain rye flour
- 100 g strong wheat flour
- 380 ml warm water
- 7 g fresh yeast
- 10 g fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp mountain honey
- 1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
Method
- Dissolve yeast and honey in the warm water.
- Combine flours and salt in a bowl. Pour in the liquid and mix to a dense, tacky dough — rye is sticky, do not over-flour.
- Knead 8 minutes with a wet hand. First rise 90 minutes, covered.
- Shape into a tight round loaf. Roll the surface in a little extra rye flour and scatter fennel seeds on top.
- Second rise 45 minutes on a lined tray.
- Heat oven to 220°C (430°F). Steam the oven with a tin of water on the floor.
- Bake 50–55 minutes until the crust is very dark and the base sounds hollow. Cool fully — rye bread needs at least 12 hours to set before slicing.