Fermented Potato Bread from Substans
Fermented Potato Bread from Substans
Fermented potato bread is made up of small rolls that are first browned in a generous amount of oil in the pan and finished in the oven. The result is a crisp crust around a moist, airy crumb.
The flavour comes from the potatoes. Boiled baking potatoes are left in brine for a couple of days, until they bubble, and are then mashed into the dough along with buttermilk and yeast. That gives moisture and a mild tang reminiscent of sourdough, but without the bother of keeping one alive.
The bread is known from the Michelin restaurant Substans in Aarhus. It is straightforward to make at home: the dough rests in the fridge for a day and is shaped into small balls before being fried off in batches. Serve them warm with butter for lunch or as a side for a dish with gravy.
Ingredients
Makes 12 rolls of about 100 g
fermented potatoes (3-5 days ahead)
- 500 g baking potatoes
- water, to cover
- 20 g salt (2% of total weight)
dough (1 day ahead)
- 5 g yeast
- 250 ml buttermilk
- 500 g fermented potatoes
- 2 g salt
- 550 g flour
- flour, for shaping
- oil, for frying
Directions
Make the fermented potatoes a couple of days ahead. Boil baking potatoes until tender, crack them lightly, place them in a container and cover with water. Add salt so it makes up 2% of the weight of potatoes plus water.
If you put the potatoes in a 1-litre container, add the potatoes and pour in water up to 1 litre. Then you know the total weight is 1 kg / 1000 g. Divide that by 50 and you have how many grams of salt to add: 1000 / 50 = 20 g.
Leave them covered at room temperature for a couple of days, until small white bubbles form on the surface and they smell faintly sour. Then move them to the fridge, where they keep for several days.
Stir the yeast into the buttermilk until it is fully dissolved.
Mash the fermented potatoes and add them to the bowl together with the yeast mixture. Add the salt.
Add the flour and knead the dough well together — by hand or in a stand mixer for 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides as you go. The dough is a little sticky, but that is fine.
Cover the dough and refrigerate it for a day. Twelve hours can do it, but a full day gives the best result. The dough keeps for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Weigh out the dough in portions of about 100 g. Dust each portion with a little flour and roll them into balls. Fold them together lightly if you like, for a more worked dough.
Let the rolls proof just a little, about 15 minutes.
Heat a pan well with plenty of oil. Fry the rolls gently, about three at a time, until they take on a little colour.
Finish the rolls in the oven at 355°F (180°C) for about 5 minutes. They are done when they sound hollow if you tap the bottom.
Notes
Feel free to char the rolls lightly at the end over an open fire or grill for a slightly burnt, campfire-bread flavour.
At Substans they are served with, among other things, whipped cod roe, soured cream, chives and pickled gooseberries. The high moisture content from the potatoes keeps the bread moist, so it still tastes good the next day.
See Also
Pâte Fermentée
