[Sca-cooks] Boletinos Artos

[Terry Decker]

Here's the recipe for Roman Mushroom Bread that I worked up for Al-Barran
MidWinter.  I was working from Mark Grant's Roman Cookery for the basic 
information.

Bear


Boletinos Artos

What is known as "boletinos" bread is shaped like a mushroom.  The kneading 
bowl on which the dough is placed is greased and sprinkled with poppy seeds, 
so that the dough does not stick during rising.  When it is put in the oven, 
some groats are sprinkled over the earthenware pan.  Then the loaf is put on 
top and takes on a very beautiful color like that of smoked cheese.

Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists


The recipe suggests two possible ways the dough can be allowed to rise. 
First is upside down in an oiled bowl.  The second is in a small oiled bowl 
that would shape the stem of the mushroom as the rising dough flows over the 
bowl rim.  I chose to use the second method with 4 1/2 inch pie tins and 4 
inch ramekins as baking pans to shape the mushroom stems.

Athenaeus dates to between 170 and 230 CE.  By this time both sourdough and 
ale barm yeasting were in use in Rome.  Either leaven would be valid.  I 
chose standard yeast for ease of preparation.

The recipe does not specify the two rises I used to improve the crumb.  It 
is very likely that the recipe was actually prepared with a single rise 
after preparing the dough and shaping it.

Grant used the groats as topping for the loaves, but I think they were meant 
to keep the loaves from sticking to the terracotta baking pan.  I used 
parchment paper on a flat baking sheet as a substitute.

Egg white glaze makes for a lovely finish, but it isn't in the original 
recipe.

At 4,000+ feet altitude, I had to reduce the leaven to a scant teaspoon and 
shorten the rise times until doubled.


Flour              720 grams (6 cups)
Salt                 2 Teaspoons

Yeast              1 Scant Tablespoon Dry Active
Water              474 grams (2 cups), 90 degrees F.
Olive Oil          3 Tablespoons
Poppy Seeds
Additional oil to grease round tins

1 Egg (optional, not in the original recipe)

Preparing the dough:

Mix salt and flour in mixing bowl.
Proof the yeast in 1 cup of water (add a pinch of sugar, if necessary to
activate the yeast).
Add the yeast mix, the rest of the water and the olive oil to the dry
ingredients.  Work them together to form a dough.  Knead the dough on a
lightly floured surface (or, as I do, let the Kitchenaide slap the dough
silly, adding small amounts of flour, if necessary to keep the dough from
sticking).
Put the dough ball in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled
(about 2 hours).

Preparing the loaf:

Divide the dough into two equal parts shape into balls.
Take 2, 4" or 5" diameter cake pans, ramekin or pie pans (aluminum pot pie 
pans will
work, but not as well).  Lightly oil them and sprinkle 1 to 1 1/2 
Tablespoons of poppy seeds
in each pan (sides and bottom).  Press a dough ball into the pan.  If you
use too much oil, the seeds may not adhere to the dough.
Set the filled pans on a baking sheet covered with baker's parchment
(generally reuseable for this application), cover and allow to rise until
doubled (about 1 hour).
The dough will spill over the top of the pans and drop down to the baking
sheet producing the mushroom shape of the loaf.  The parchment keeps the
dough or the egg white glaze from sticking to the baking sheet.

Baking:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Separate the egg, putting the egg white in a small bowl.  Beat.  Brush the
beaten egg white onto the loaves.
Bake loaves for 40 minutes.  Turn out on a rack to cool.  This can be a
little tricky if the overhanging bread catches on the lip of the pan.