Photo by Anja Schmidt
The name “miche” comes from the latin mica, which, like the French mie, means crumb. This method combines a sourdough ferment (I like to use a rye ferment) with a little fresh commercial yeast.
Makes 1 LARGE MICHE
Ingredients:
- Either: 100g rye sourdough ferment (see page 104) or white sourdough ferment (see page 91)
- 400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 50g dark rye flour
- 50g whole-wheat or spelt flour
- 350g water
- 5g compressed fresh yeast
- a little semolina flour, for dusting the peel
Directions:
- Put the ferment into a large mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Follow steps 1 to 3 for White sourdough on page 92. Reshape the dough into a ball, cover, and leave to rest for an additional 45 minutes.
- Turn the dough over onto a lightly floured work surface so the top is facing downwards. Prod into a rough square, fold one corner into the center, and bring the opposite corner over the top. Repeat with the other two corners and turn over. Lift onto a well-floured couche, and leave to rise for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, until just under double in size.
- Preheat the oven to 475°F, and dust a loading peel with semolina. Turn the miche over onto the peel, and transfer to the oven for 5 to 6 minutes, misting the inside of the oven as you do so, then turn the heat down to just over 400°F for 15 minutes. Turn down again to 400°F for another 10 minutes, then open the door so that it is just ajar for the final 4 to 5 minutes, until the crust, where it has burst open, is a rich golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
More from Crumb:
Excerpted with permission from Crumb by Richard Bertinet, published by Kyle Books in March 2019.
