Cookbook

Rye levain is a naturally leavened preferment built with rye flour. It ferments energetically, deepens earthy and mildly tangy flavour, and is especially useful in rye breads and mixed-grain loaves where you want acidity, aroma, and stronger fermentation character.

Stiff levain is a lower-hydration naturally leavened preferment that ferments more slowly and predictably than a liquid build. It tends to produce a sweeter, rounder acidity and stronger dough structure, which makes it useful for breads where balance, shape retention, or gentle sourness matter.

Liquid levain is a naturally leavened preferment typically kept at about 100 percent hydration. It ripens with a creamy, tangy profile, brings a more open and extensible dough feel than a stiff culture, and is a versatile choice for country loaves, baguettes, and mixed-flour breads.

A sponge is a quick preferment that uses a relatively generous share of yeast and often much of the liquid in the formula. It builds activity fast, adds mild flavour, and improves softness, making it especially useful for buns, sandwich loaves, and other enriched doughs.

Pate fermentee, or old dough, is a piece of fully mixed lean dough saved from a previous batch. Because it already contains salt and yeast, it adds balanced fermentation flavour, better dough strength, and practical continuity for everyday hearth breads, rolls, and baguette-style formulas.

Poolish is a liquid preferment made with equal parts flour and water plus a tiny amount of yeast. Its high hydration encourages enzyme activity and aroma, helping produce doughs that are more extensible and well suited to baguettes, focaccia, and other open-crumb breads.

Biga is a stiff Italian preferment, usually around 50 to 60 percent hydration, mixed with flour, water, and a very small amount of yeast. It ferments slowly, develops sweet nutty aroma, and brings strength and elasticity to breads, pizza, and other doughs that benefit from more structure.

A straightforward Neapolitan-style pizza dough made without a preferment, designed for a soft, extensible dough that bakes into a tender, leopard-spotted crust with a light, chewy rim.

A Neapolitan-style pizza dough using a full autolyse to hydrate the flour before mixing, improving extensibility, dough strength, and a soft, open crust without adding a preferment.

A Neapolitan-style pizza dough built entirely around poolish for gentle fermentation aroma, extra extensibility, and a light, blistered crust with a tender bite.

A Neapolitan-style pizza dough built with a 50% biga preferment for extra strength, subtle sweetness, and a fragrant, chewy cornicione while keeping the finished pizza light and extensible.

Pizza Canotto Neapolitan Style with 50% biga delivers a light, airy crust with a tall, ballooned cornicione and deep fermented flavor. The biga adds subtle sweetness, aroma, and a soft, open crumb, while high-heat baking creates beautiful charred blisters. Finished with rich tomato, creamy mozzarella, fresh basil, and olive oil, it offers a modern Neapolitan pizza with cloud-like texture and balanced taste.