Turkish bread recipes : Village bread

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Experience is an important part of the bread-baking process in Turkey. The villagers have plenty of experience and access to natural resources such as oat, wheat, rye..Of course it is not easy to catch that bronzy-goldy colour of the traditional turkish village bread but still we can try using the amenities of modern life.

For one middle size loaf

1½ cup white flour
1 dessert spoon natural yeast
½ cup rye flour
2 spoons of oat flour
2 spoons of corn flour
1 small spoon of salt
½ cup water

1. Ensure the yeast is at the room temperature. Stir the yeast with its juice.
2. Pour the yeast into a large bowl and mix it with ½ cup white flour. Close the bowl with plastic wrapping and leave it in room temperature for 2 hours. You will notice little spots on the surface after 2 hours.
3. Add the remaining oat, corn and rye flours into your mixture as well adding the water and salt. Knead the mixture for 10 minutes. The flour should be soft and a little sticky. You can add 2 or 3 spoons of water if you like. Alternatively you can use a mixer (instead of kneading with your hands). If you have a mixer with flour kneading capability, mix your flour mixture for 5 minutes to reach that soft and sticky state.
4. Put your mixture in a large sealed bowl and leave it there for 4 or 5 hours in room temperature. The mixture will enlarge in this waiting period and the size will double.
5. Roll your dough mixture on a cutting board decorated with flour until it looks like a loaf. Then put your raw bread loaf on an oven tray (again, decorated with some flour) and leave it for another hour.
6. Before putting your tray into the oven, put ½ cup of boiling water in a heat-resistant cup in some corner of your oven. With a sharp knife, make 3 parallel lines on your raw loaf. Pre-heat your oven 220 degrees and put your tray into pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes.