Twenty per cent fresh-milled red fife in a stiff levain, the longest cold retard your fridge can manage, and a hot Dutch oven. The loaf the store gets named after.
Read through the whole method before you start. The timings are forgiving but not infinitely so, and the cold retard is the hard part to plan around. We've written everything assuming a kitchen that sits around 22°C. Cooler — add an hour. Warmer — knock one off.
The night before you want to mix the final dough — usually around 9pm — combine the levain ingredients in a small jar. It should look stiff but cohesive. Cover loosely and leave on the counter for 10–12 hours.
In the morning, mill the 250g of red fife you need (50g for the next levain refresh, 200g for the dough) on the finest setting your mill allows. Let it cool for 20 minutes before you use it — fresh-milled flour is warm and absorbs water unpredictably until it settles.
Combine all three flours with 700g of the water (hold back 50g for the salt). Mix until no dry spots remain — a wooden spoon and one minute of effort. Cover and rest one hour.
Add the levain to the dough; squelch it through with wet hands until uniform. Dissolve the salt in the held-back 50g of water and add. Pinch and fold until incorporated. The dough will feel shaggy and sticky. That's correct.
Over the next 4–5 hours, perform four sets of stretch-and-folds at 30-minute intervals, then let the dough rest. By the end the dough should have risen about 50% and feel airy when you tilt the bowl. It should not have doubled.
Turn the dough out onto an unfloured counter. Divide in two. Using a bench knife and the heel of your other hand, shape each half into a loose round. Let them rest 25 minutes, uncovered.
Flour the tops, flip, and shape into tight boules or batards depending on your bannetons. Place seam-up in floured baskets. Pinch the seam if it wants to gape.
Cover the baskets and place in the fridge for 14–18 hours. This is non-negotiable — it's where the flavour develops and the crumb structure sets up. Longer is fine. Shorter is a different bread.
Preheat a Dutch oven at 260°C for 45 minutes. Score the cold loaf, lower it in, cover. Bake 22 minutes covered, then 18 minutes uncovered at 230°C. The crust should be deep mahogany, the loaf should sound hollow.
Two hours on a wire rack. Don't cut in. The crumb sets as it cools and a hot loaf will be gummy. We know it's hard. Make coffee. Read something. Wait.
This recipe assumes a sourdough starter you've already been keeping. If you don't have one yet, come by the store — we'll send you home with a piece of ours and a paper bag of red fife to feed it with. No charge.
