Sublime

9 | BAKER’S COUCHE This is a similar, but heavier, stiff natural canvas or linen cloth, which can be put on top of a baking tray and pleated to make separate ‘compartments’ to keep a batch of loaves, such as baguettes, apart.

The second big shift in my thinking was to come from everyone in Naples: rather than mixing the dough and letting it rest for several hours to rise (what we call bulk fermentation), it is customary to mix the dough and then divide and shape it into dough balls early on in the fermentation timeline, often just 2 hours later.

When you keep back your dough, put it in a bowl in the fridge, covered with clingfilm, leave it for 2 days, and add the same amount of water (200g) and double its weight of flour (400g). Mix well until you have a firm dough, then put it back in the fridge. If you aren’t going to be baking for a while, refresh it every 7–10 days. To

Slide your fingers under the dough, then with your thumbs parallel to your index fingertips (1), lift it lightly (2), swing it upwards (3) and then slap it back down, away from you, onto your work surface (4). Stretch the front of the dough towards you, then flip it back over itself like a wave (5), stretching the dough forwards and sideways and tu

think you will find it satisfying to know you have the recipe format down and can make flour changes to suit your taste (or just to use what you have available). The most important thing is to stick with the same total amount of flour in the recipe, since amounts of all the other ingredients are based on ratios to the total flour weight.

Divide the water into two batches: 590g (20.8oz) (first water) and 10g (0.3oz) (second water). Add the first water and yeast to the mixer and mix on slow speed for a couple of minutes until the yeast has dissolved. Add the flour to the mixer and mix on slow speed for 5 minutes until all the flour has combined and there are no dry bits left. Stop th