Wholegrain spelt pain a l'ancienne

Spelt was an important cereal in Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. Today it has survived as a relict crop in Central Europe and northern Spain (mainly in Asturias) and has found a new market as a health food: spelt requires fewer fertilisers as it is resistant to diseases so it is easy to find organic spelt.

So with my wholegrain spelt decided last night to make the well known in this blog pain a l'ancienne. I think we always have make this bread in white versions so a bit of a challenge using an wholemeal flour, and spelt.

So mixed the ingredients last night:

- 380g wholegrain spelt flour
- 300g water (very cold)
- 7g salt
- 4g dried yeast

And I said mixed because as you know you don't knead this bread. All well mix and put it in the fridge until this morning (9 hours). then I left it at room temperature for 2 hours until double the size. With an spatula and loads of flour, tried to make 3 baguettes and oven, 230C for 10 min first with some water/steam and then 25 at 200C. 5 minutes extra with the oven off and the door open.

The result was a bit different as I used to have for a pain a l'ancienne: no big alveolus, breadcrumb a bit more compact, probably due to the type of flour but taste was great. You can definitely feel the 9 hours in the fridge and the flavour of the wholegrain spelt.

Looking forward to use again spelt flour. I found a interesting web: a spanish company producing local spelt flour (Triticum aestivum sub. Spelta). They not only sell white and wholemeal spelt flout but the grain as well. It could be another interesting step producing our own spelt flour. anyone else up to? The company is called Escanda Asturiana