PANIS QUADRATUS: ANCIENT BREAD OF POMPEII

Panis Quadratus: Ancient Bread of Pompeii image

Panis quadratus is a delicious whole wheat seeded pull-apart sourdough bread from about 2000 years ago. Its characteristics have been reconstructed by food historians and archaeologists, using ancient texts, depictions in art, and the truly unique opportunity to analyze intact bread loaves found in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, preserved in the volcanic ash of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The recipe below is inspired by the work of experimental archaeologist Farrell Monaco and her blog Tavola Mediterranea. Any historical inaccuracies are ours alone.

Provided by Melissa Johnson

Categories Recipes

Time 1h20m

Yield 8-16

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients
650 grams home-milled red fife wheat berries or whole grain red fife wheat flour (5 cups flour)
10 grams salt (1 3/4 tsp)
14 grams toasted sesame seeds (1 1/2 Tbsp)
3 grams toasted nigella seeds (1 tsp)
3 grams anise seeds (1 tsp)
3 grams poppy seeds (1 tsp)
Wet Ingredients
480 grams water (2 cups)
140 grams ripe sourdough starter (2/3 cup)
35 grams honey (~2 Tbsp)

Steps:

Briefly toast the nigella and sesame seeds on a dry frying pan until the latter are a light gold color.
Combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, seeds) in a bowl and whisk together.
Combine the wet ingredients (water, sourdough starter, honey) in another bowl and whisk until frothy and dissolved.
Mix together the wet and dry ingredients, lightly kneading or running a stand mixer for about 5 minutes. Different wheat varieties will have different absorbency, so check out the photo gallery below for a sense of the target dough consistency, and add more flour or water if needed.
Cover and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes. Then perform a round of stretching and folding on the dough. After another 30-minute rest, do a second round of stretching and folding.
Let the dough rise until it has expanded by about 75%. This took 4.5 hours from when I mixed the dough (warm kitchen).
Prep and set aside a square sheet of parchment paper that is about 15"x15". Your dough should only spread to about 9-10 inches in diameter by the time you've segmented it, but the extra parchment edges will give you something to grab when you transfer the dough to your baking vessel or stone.
Scrape the dough out onto a well-floured countertop and shape it into a ball, scooting it with a bench knife or the palms of your hands to develop tension on the dough's surface.
Place the dough ball on the center of your parchment paper, lightly dust it with flour, and cover it with a damp cloth for the final proof. My dough proofed for 2 hours in a warm kitchen.
Preheat your oven and baking vessel or stone to 450F during the last thirty minutes of the final proof. If you're using a regular baking sheet, preheat to only 400F and plan to bake the bread for about 45 minutes.
Uncover your dough and tie cooking string around its "waist." Don't make the string droopy loose, but don't tighten it either.
Now flour the top of your dough and make 8 depressions like you're creating pie wedges with a chopstick or similar tool. Make sure to press down almost to the countertop. If the chopstick pulls the dough back up when you remove it, flour it and the dough again.
Finally make a hole in the center of the dough that is at least 1" wide.
Transfer the parchment and dough to your hot baking vessel, cover, and put it in the oven.
Bake at 450F for 25 minutes covered and about 15 minutes uncovered.
After the bread has cooled, you can store it in your baking vessel to keep it soft and chewy.