LISELOTTE’s CHANSON SUR:

LE SNAPS – L’AQUAVIT

J'aime le snaps comme un vrai danois.

Il est si bon, il est fort et froid.

Ne pensez plus a moules et frites.

Pensez a l’ aquavit !!

Et sur YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLfR3DGGfCQ   

Liselotte Thøgersen

lilo25thogersen@gmail.com

MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT ESPECIALLY FOR YOU

THE BELGIAN STOEMP

or mash potatoes with twists

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This is a really lovely traditional Belgian winter dish which in actual fact is so simple that I wonder why we Danes never thought of doing our traditional mash like this. We do have all the ingredients available in every shop and supermarket, yet we did not make this combination. We make this one very often at home because it goes so well with a sausage, any kind of meat or as part of a vegetarian dish. What’s more you can mix in other vegetables and herbs according to your taste. Here comes the basic recipe for

STOEMP

1 kg potatoes

1-2 onions

3-4 carrots

1 clove of garlic

1 vegetable stock cube

Peel and cut the vegetables into 2 cm cubes and put them in a pot. Cover with water and add the garlic and the stock cube. Bring to the boil and let it cook for approx. 20 minutes. Pour out the stock and work the vegetables to a lumpy mash. Add a big lump of butter, salt and pepper to taste. Et voila your Stoemp is ready.

BUT you could also add water cress, Brussels sprouts, spinach or leaks. In the case of  leaks you should leave out the onion.

The last time I made it I added a big tablespoon of my homemade pesto to the basic recipe and that was simply delicious. So

BON APPETIT – ENJOY!

DENMARK, THE DANES AND THE POTATOE

Danes certainly have a very close relationship with the potato. I personally would take it as far as calling it a very serious love affair which has lasted for a long time! Many Danes will say that a meal without potatoes is not a meal at all! By the way potatoes are called kartofler in Danish.

The potato arrived late in Denmark – actually we know the exact year to be 1719 although it came to Europe from South America as early as 1534. So in a few years we can celebrate 200 years of potatoes in Denmark!

In the good old days there would not be many varieties, the most common one was the bintje and we would usually boil them in salt water for 20 minutes and that was it. New sorts were introduced and new recipes developed over the years and some very special ones were created in order to better suit the different dishes they would accompany. For some reason the “brunede kartofler” stands out, and I can confirm that these sugar-caramelized potatoes is a genuine Danish dish. I have never found that cooking method in any other cuisine.

Nowadays it is especially the new potatoes which are sought after. They arrive around midsummer, and there is actually a competition among potato growers about who can bring the first new ones to the market. Restaurants in particular are keen to get their hands on them, and they will pay anything for them. It could easily be up to 100 Euros for 500 grams!

Potatoes are grown everywhere and anyone who has even a small vegetable garden will grow his own. It is almost considered a sacred ritual to go into the garden, dig up the delicious small potatoes, clean and brush them, leaving the skin on and put them directly into the pot to be boiled, then served with a bit of salt and not least with a lump of good Danish butter! That is indeed a royal treat!

Potato growing on a larger or smaller industrial scale is of course widespread and of great importance. It is said and believed that the best ones come from Samsø, a beautiful small island in the Kattegat or from the Lammefjord (Fjord of the Lambs), a large reclaimed area of land on the island of Sjælland (Sealand) some 80 km west of Copenhagen.

Last but not least potatoes are also used to produce the world famous Danish Aquavit or snaps as we call it. You will find many different varieties of snaps the most classic being Rød Aalborg named after the town of Aalborg where it is produced – rød meaning red being the dominant colour on the label. Rød Aalborg has the taste of cumin, but many other herbs and spices are used to pep up this popular drink with an average alcohol percentage of 40! So be careful! It is a must to serve it with the classic Danish open sandwiches called smørrebrød  and especially with herring and cheese!

A FEW WORDS ABOUT MYSELF

I was born in Copenhagen and have lived there for most of my life, except for a couple of years in Switzerland when I was young and the last almost 24 years in Belgium!

I have been working in tourism for more than 20 years. For 15 years sending people on tours all over the world and the last years in Danish tourism trying to attract tourists to my small and beautiful country.

Food has always been of interest to me. I have always loved cooking and having travelled to many parts of the world I have gained a lot of knowledge about different cuisines.

I have also written 3 small dictionaries on the French/Belgian, Italian and Spanish cuisines.

They are called “Menu guides” and they are an essential companion for the Danish traveler to understand what is on the menu in France, Belgium, Italy and Spain in case you do not speak any of these languages. Each edition contains about 800 words in alphabetical order translated into Danish and English and supplemented with a short explanation.

Although I am definitely an amateur, I consider cooking my main hobby. I enjoy good honest food made from fresh and tasteful ingredients, so Belgium is certainly the right place to be. So many nationalities present in this country guarantees that one can always find the original product from almost any country in the world, and fine local Belgian products just add to the joy of living in Belgium.

Below I give you the recepies that I made for you:

Brunede karfofler (brown potatoes/caramelized potatoes)

Stuvede kartofler (stewed potatoes with cream)

Sursød kartoffelsalat (sweet and sour potatoe salad)

Nye kartofler med sild (new potatoes with herring)

Kartoffelmad (open sandwich with potato)

Liselotte Thøgersen

18.01.2012

RECIPES FOR DANISH POTATO DISHES

Brown caramelized potatoes (brune kartofler)

1 kilo small firm potatoes (25-30 mm)

50 g white sugar

50 g butter

1.      Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water with the skin on for no more than 15 minutes. Peel them.

2.      Rinse the potatoes in cold water. The water helps to give a shiny and silky look.

3.      Melt the sugar in a dry roasting pan – big enough to hold the potatoes in one layer.

4.      Add the butter when the sugar has melted (be careful that it does not burn) and mix well.

5.      Add the potatoes to the roasting pan. Be careful – the water will make the butter splash. Roast well on all sides turning them over with a wooden spoon.

6.      Serve immediately.

They are perfect with roast duck or goose or a pork roast with crackling skin, but also with smoked meat served with spinach or green cabbage à la crème.

Potatoes in cream sauce (flødestuvede kartofler)

1 kilo firm potatoes

Salt

400 ml double cream

White pepper

Pinch of grated nutmeg

1.      Peel the potatoes and cut into pieces – the size of an olive.

2.      Boil the potatoes in salt water for a few minutes until the water foams. Pour into a strainer and rinse in cold water.

3.      Put the potatoes into a wide and low (thick bottomed) saucepan and cover with the cream. Leave them to soften in the cream at a low heat, covered with a lid for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. When the potatoes are soft and the cream has turned thick from the starch in the potatoes add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

These potatoes are traditionally served with pieces of fresh eel, covered in rye flour and fried in butter. It is definitely a rich and luxurious dish. The tradition says you have to eat so many pieces of eel so that the bones of the eel will make a full circle around your plate! This potato dish is also very good with fresh salmon, or any smoked fish or meat.

Sweet and sour warm potato salad (varm sursød kartoffelsalat)

1 kg small firm potatoes

50 g butter

3 big onions

100 ml of white vinegar

200 ml water

1 table spoon of sugar

Salt and pepper

1.      Boil the potatoes with the skin on for 15-20 minutes. Peel and leave to cool. Cut into slices (1/2 centimeter)

2.      Peel the onions and cut into thin rings. Melt the butter in a pot and boil the onions until they are clear – do NOT brown. Add vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper and leave the onions to cook until tender.

3.      Add the potato slices. Leave them to heat with the onions in the sweet and sour mixture for 8-10 minutes. Add a little water if the salad turns too dry – it should be nice and watery.

You can add a bit of chopped parsley or dill.

Serve the salad warm with roasted or boiled meats. It is VERY good with any kind of sausage.

New (a must) potatoes with herring (Nye kartofler med sild)

1 kg of new potatoes

1-2 big filet/s of white or red pickled Scandinavian herring *)

Red onions and dill

Sour cream and/or butter

1.      Boil the potatoes – not too long – new potatoes require about 15 minutes.

2.      Arrange the filet(s) of herring on individual plates garnished with raw red onion rings and chopped dill, a knob of butter and a spoon full of sour cream.

You could definitely use the wonderful traditional matjes for this dish!

Put the warm potatoes in a beautiful bowl decorated with some finely chopped dill and make the potatoes the center piece of your table.

A cold beer and a glass of aquavit (snaps) will lift this simple dish to a heavenly state!

*) The Scandinavian type of marinated herrings (Danish – even Swedish will do) can be found in supermarkets, in the Scan Shop in Waterloo or Brussels and in IKEA.

Open Danish Potato Sandwich on Rye Bread (kartoffelmad)

Slices of rye bread*)

Boiled potatoes (new ones are the best)

Butter

Good mayonnaise

Raw red onion rings

Chopped chives

1.      Cut the bread into thin slices (3-4 mm).

2.      Put on a nice layer of fresh butter.

3.      Cut the potatoes into slices of ½ cm and put them nicely on the bread.

4.      Top the potatoes with a good spoonful of mayonnaise, the onion rings and the chives.

Serve on individual plates as a starter or as a good lunch dish. It should of course be accompanied with a nice cold Danish beer and a glass of aquavit – or snaps as we say!

*) The dark rye bread is a necessity for making real Danish open sandwiches. Danish rye bread is of the same type as the German one, made with a sourdough. You can find rye bread in supermarkets in Belgium or in the Scan Shops in Waterloo or in Brussels. In the Scan Shops you can even buy a mixture for making your own. Very easy as you just have to add yeast and water (or as I usually do: replace part of the water with a good dark Belgian beer for instance the Leffe!

Finally let me give you what some professional cooks call THE BEST WAY TO COOK POTATOES – any potato!

Put the potatoes into cold water with a bit of salt, bring to the boil and let them boil on the heat for 7 MINUTES – turn off the heat but leave the pot on the warm plate for another 7 MINUTES – they are perfectly done.

Liselotte Thøgersen

Rixensart 19.01.2012

KØKKENSKRIVEREN ..... something about food

First of all I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas. I hope you will have beautiful days with your families and friends enjoying the company and a lot of good traditional food. Most of us in Northern Europe at least just have to look outside and the Christmassy feeling is definitely there. We are buried in snow, and at this very moment the sun is shining from a clear and blue sky. It is just wonderful to look at. Niels has just been outside clearing our way out of the house and the pavement for the people passing by – good exercise for a Viking!!

And when Christmas is over there is another reason to celebrate: The coming of the new year 2011!  I have just written one of my “Køkkenskriver” articles which includes some festive food for the end-of-the-year celebration. Perhaps you would like to try them. I can assure they are delicious, quite easy to prepare and they look beautiful on the plate. First of all a nice sauce to accompany some really good smoked salmon or any other smoked fish:

CREAMY SAUCE WITH EGGS AND CRESS

3 whole eggs

1-1,5 table spoon of Dijon mustard

40-50 g of butter

3 dl double cream

1 tray of cress (a handful)

1. Mix the eggs with the mustard in a bowl. Add salt and pepper.
2. Melt the butter in a small casserole and add the egg and mustard mixture.
3. Keeping the temperature very low make the eggs thicken – you must stir all the time to avoid the eggs turning into scramble eggs and to stick to the bottom.
4. When the eggs have turned almost solid add the cream. Continue to stir – but the sauce must NOT BOIL. Add the cress and perhaps a bit more salt and pepper.
5. This sauce can be served hot or cold.
6. If you cannot get cress, a handful of chopped chives are a good alternative.

* * * * * * *

So for the main course I suggest a very delicious and tasty fish dish. Even Niels likes it and that is definitely a recommendation!

MONKFISH ON A SKEWER WITH BACON (serves 4)

800 g of filet of monkfish

2 thick slices of smoked bacon (1 cm)

1 big green or red pepper

1-2 onions

2 table spoons of olive oil

1 dl white wine

5 dl double cream

Salt and pepper

1. Cut the filet into 16 pretty squares. Cut the bacon into 8 pieces. Empty the pepper and cut into 12 nice squares. Peal and cut the onions into smaller pieces (“boats”).
2. Put all the pieces alternately on 4 skewers. If you are using wooden skewers you must put them in water first otherwise they will burn. Begin and end with a piece of the pepper – it keeps everything nicely together. This can be done well in advance. Just keep them in the fridge until you prepare them.
3. Roast the skewers in a big pan in the oil – keep the heat high – and roast them for a couple of minutes on each side. Transfer the skewers to an ovenproof dish. Add the white wine to the pan and finally add the cream, and let it boil for a couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper to your liking and pour the sauce over the skewers. Finish the fish in the oven at 200 C degrees for 20-25 minutes until the sauce has thickened and turned slightly golden. Do not overcook them!
4. Serve with small firm boiled potatoes or a rice pilaf with saffron, and vegetables or salad to your liking.

* * * * * * *

What could be more appropriate and festive than having a nice bottle of champagne to go with the fish courses! Cheers and bon appétit !!

Finally I wish you all

A VERY HAPPY AND EXCITING NEW YEAR 2011!

Warmest greetings from

Liselotte

First of all a very merry Christmas to you all, where ever you are and however you celebrate this Yule-tide! This old fashioned English word derives from the Danish word “juletid” which to us is not at all old fashioned, but indeed the time we are living in the month of December. So I hope you will also have a lovely “juletid”.

I have a habit of writing about food, as some of you might know. So I thought I would share with you the Danish Christmas dessert: Riz à l’amande! It does not sound very Danish, does it? Why we use this French name for our traditional Christmas pudding, I have absolutely no idea, but it is indeed made with rice and almonds, and it is very delicious.

Riz à l’Amandes

60 g of dessert rice

½ litre of milk

1 vanilla pod

50 g of peeled almonds

AND 1 WHOLE ALMOND *)

2 tablespoons of sugar

2,5 dl of double cream

1. Open the vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds and keep them for later.

2. Bring the milk to the boil in a pot (avoid aluminium pots – it can discolour the food) and add the rice stirring well. Add the vanilla pod shell and let it boil for a few minutes without lid. Put the lid back on and leave the rice to soften at a low heat – it will take about 40 minutes – until the rice will have absorbed the milk and it will be like a porridge. (Check the cooking time on the rice package you buy – it might be different from the one I use). You have to give it a stir now and then to avoid the porridge sticking. Take out the vanilla pod shell and leave

the porridge to cool.

3. When it has cooled completely add the vanilla seeds and the sugar.

4. Chop the peeled almonds roughly and add to the porridge.

5. Finally: Whip the cream firmly and add carefully to the porridge. The cream should “lift up” the final result. Leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Serve with a thick and sweet fruit sauce made from preserved cherries – this is the classical way – but you could also make a sauce from other berries or apricots or oranges. It’s up to you.

*) we eat this dessert on Christmas Eve and the whole almond is a very IMPORTANT ingredient! Why? Well first of all the whole almond should be well hidden in the bowl in which you serve the dish, and the person who gets the whole almond (everybody is very excited!) will get a present. In the old days it would be a pig made from marzipan – nowadays

it can be anything. If you have kids around perhaps adding a secret extra almond in their plates could be a good idea! It is after all Christmas!

* * * Finally a very happy and healthy new year 2010 to you all from LISELOTTE * * *

Liselotte Thøgersen     (  e-mail:  liselottethogersen@gmail.com ) 

MY  SPECIAL  NJT  MEATBALLS

( in Danish:  Frikadeller )
 

                Ingredients............

·        500 g minced veal and pork

·        2-3 table spoons grated onion

·        2 tea spoons salt

·        1 clove of crushed garlic

·        1 egg

·        2 table spoons flour

·        ¼ tea spoon of pepper  ( 10-12 turns of the grind )

·        1 ½ dl ( 15 ml ) milk & water

                 Action…….

·        work the salt well into the meat

·        add the grated onion and the crushed garlic clove

·        make a mixture of the egg, the flour and the liquid

·        mix it thoroughly into the meat

·        add pepper

·        mix it all well together

·        let it all rest for about an hour in the fridge

·        if you then think that the mince is still too compact, add a bit more liquid

                  And now……..

·        form the meatballs with a table spoon. Don’t make them too

big

·        fry them in a little butter and oil at medium heat for approx.

     5 minutes on each Side

                  NOW:  Enjoy – enjoy – enjoy ……. J J J

Niels Jørgen Thøgersen  July 2009   kimbrer@gmail.com        No copyright J   

KØKKENSKRIVEREN ..... something about food

For a few years now I have been writing about food and given recipes  in a Danish club magazine in Belgium, and my column is called ”KØKKENSKRIVEREN”. It’s a strange Danish word which cannot even be found in a Danish dictionary. Yet it exists. It’s a combination of the Danish words for a kitchen and a scribe, and as such it is, I think, quite properly used in this connection.

Anyway, Niels has for a long time been asking for an English translation, and as he does not take no for an answer – here we go.

I think food should be easy to prepare. Spending hours in the kitchen does not necessarily mean better food. I like simple ingredients, which you can find in your local shop or supermarket, and I like old fashioned food, though I am always tempted to try out new combinations and new twists. So here for the very first time in English a few “greatest hits” which  all serve 4 persons.

So why not start with one of the most common of common foods the good old potato, which the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro kindly brought to Europe in 1534.

ROASTED POTATOES WITH PARSLEY AND GARLIC

1 kg small firm potatoes

1 bunch of broad leaf parsley

2-4 cloves of garlic

Olive- or rape oil *

Salt and pepper

Wash the potatoes, do not peel them. Cut them in half lengthwise and roast them until slightly brown in a pan with a little oil, salt and pepper. Chop the parsley and the garlic and mix with the potatoes. Give it a good stir and put the potatoes in one layer in an ovenproof dish. Cook in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade for 20-30 minutes and stir every once in a while. What a smell! This is great with any piece of roasted meat, and particularly with lamb.

* rape oil is very nice and healthy, easy to get in Denmark and in Belgium. It is good for frying and also very nice in your salad dressing. Is has a mild and nutty flavour.

 * * * * *

Another favourite of ours is “Stoemp” an original Belgian recipe, a real winter dish which you could also call “mash with a twist”. It goes like this:

STOEMP AUX CAROTTES

6-10 carrots

3 onions                                                                        

4 big potatoes

1 tablespoon of butter

20-30 ml of milk

Salt and pepper

Peal carrots, potatoes and onions, cut into lumps and cook them in unsalted water until they are very soft. Mash it all and add the butter, the milk, salt and pepper. Serve with a good sprinkle of parsley, some really nice roasted sausages and a nice strong mustard.

Variations: Instead of carrots you can use other roots like turnips, parsnips or celery. It could also be Brussels sprouts, spinach or leaks. If you use leaks then leave out the onions.

Finally a very easy snack, which has become very popular in our house with the aperitif.

ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS

200 g of pumpkin seeds

1 table spoon of good soy sauce or teriyaki

Roast the pumpkin seeds in a non stick dry frying pan at a fairly strong heat. Stir constantly and when they start to “pop” and turn golden they are done. Take off the heat and mix well with the soy or the teriyaki. The whole process will take 6-7 minutes. Leave to cool and enjoy with your favourite drink! Cheers and skål!

So for now KØKKENSKRIVEREN will come to an end. If you like it, I might give you more great, easy and delicate suggestions.

BON APPETIT!

Liselotte Thøgersen

Niels’

  CIMBRIAN SALAD DRESSING

You cannot go on living without trying it J

( the recipe is exclusively based on ingredients from the Cimbrian times )

This is a really exciting dressing. It is excellent for green salad ( such as frisée salad and baby spinach leaves ). And it is also strongly recommendable for a salad consisting of raw chicory and cooked beetroots. It will also fit very well with finely chopped white cabbage and coarsely grated carrots.

Here are the contents for this special Cimbrian experience – one of the really rare ones:

·        1 ½ dl cream

·        0,4 dl apple vinegar

·        1 ½ table spoon fine Dijon mustard

·        2 – 3 cloves of crushed garlic

·        1 table spoon runny honey

·        1 tea spoon marjoram / oregano

·        fine salt  ( at the end )

PS:  NO pepper !   My friends the Cimbrians did not have that.

The portion will be enough for more meals, if you are only two persons. Unless you are very hungry !

( I have developed this recipe from Cimbrian ideas and advice from the museum FYRKAT in Jutland )

Observation:  Those who have tested this dressing are still alive J   

One more piece of information:   The Cimbrians are my forefathers from Himmerland in the north of Jutland in Denmark. They lived more than 2000 years ago – and almost conquered Rome in year 101 B.C.

Niels Jørgen Thøgersen

e-mail: kimbrer@gmail.com

NJT’s  L E N T I L  S O U P

               Try this lovely lentil soup, which can be varied in many different ways J

                                          Ingredients:

·        250 g lentils  ( red, blond or green )

·        1 carrot

·        1 onion

·        1-2 cloves of garlic

·        1 tablespoon olive oil

·        1 1/2 liter of boiling water

·        ½ a stock cube ( chicken stock or vegetable stock )

·        Salt and pepper

·        Lemon juice or vinegar

                One of the important secrets behind this lovely soup is to ensure a fine balance

                between the sweet, the sour and the salty J

                                         Action:

·        Rinse the lentils thoroughly in cold water in a sieve

·        Shred the carrot, the onion and the garlic

·        Fry the vegetables gently in olive oil for 4-5 minutes, but WITHOUT browning them

·        Add the lentils and fry the whole thing for a moment

·        Add water and the stock cube

·        Add salt and pepper ( be careful about the salt as the stock cube can be salty itself )

·        Let it all boil gently for about 30 minutes

·        Blend the soup at the end and add lemon juice or vinegar to taste

                You can vary the soup in many ways. For instance by sprinkling finely chopped

                 herbs on the finished soup.

                Or by sprinkling small pieces of fried pancetta on top – maybe a hardboiled egg.

                Ah, how it tastes fantastic J

                And be careful: This soup can easily become habit-forming !

NJT’s SALAD DRESSING

A lovely lift to any salad is, of course, the dressing. Even the most boring collection of green salad leaves can all of a sudden get life and even become attractive, if you reward them with a tasty and well prepared Vinaigrette J

Here is my “road map” for a very successful one.  Furthermore, it can easily and elegantly be prepared by anybody, anytime and anywhere.

5 parts of olive oil

1 part of vinegar

1 part of Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

A bit of sugar or honey

Garlic or spicy herbs can be added according to taste

If the dressing is too thick you can dilute it with a touch of water

Good luck ! And pleasure J 

MY  VIKING   DISH

     Not as my mother made it, but as she thought she made it!

                              The following ingredients are very much needed:

                                        *    1 kilo tenderloin of porc

·       oil and butter

·       one table spoon of curry  (big one)

·       2 table spoons of paprika

·       1-2 cloves of garlic

·       1 large onion finely diced

·       a little tomato ketchup

·       one tin of concentrated tomato pure (40 g)

·       1 ½ dl of water

·       ½ 1 of cream  (13 %)

·       ½ 2 asted in appropriatelightly eat         

·        VIKING - at   even better by resting for a day before it is eaten

·        l of double cream ( 35-40 %)

·       Remove sinews and fat from the meat and cut it into small slices, which are then divided in two

Brown the meat in oil and a bit of butter

·       The meat is then removed from the pot – and a bit more butter is added

·       Then curry is added.  Warm it until it becomes somewhat brown and it smokes a bit

·       The meat must then be put back in the pot

·       Paprika, sliced onion, pressed garlic, tomato ketchup, tomato pure and water is added

·       Some of the 13 % cream is added

·       The dish must then be on the stove until the meat is done – approx. ½ hour

·       Then the double cream is added

·       Salt and pepper to taste ….

·       To be served with nice French fries or oven baked potatoes.

                               Important:   This dish becomes even better by resting for a day before it is

                                                      eaten (up)!

1 bag ( 1 kilo ) of rye bread flour mixture

20 g fresh yeast or equal quantity of dried yeast

Luke warm water

1 bottle of Leffe Brune (33 cl)  - or in worst-case scenario: another dark beer

 🤩

Prepare exactly 800 ml liquor by adding luke warm water to the Leffe beer until you reach 800 ml altogether.

Dissolve the fresh yeast in the luke warm water -beer (if you use dried yeast add this to the flour mixture).

Mix water, beer, yeast and flour – and work the dough with a mixer ( a hand mixer or a more “adult” one) on medium speed for at least 5 minutes and until the dough is well blended.

Put the dough directly into the baking tin ( capacity 2,5 liter ). The best is a non-stick baking tin – otherwise oil the baking tin well. Smooth out the dough with a spatula dipped in water.

You can put sesame seeds on top – delicious!

Cover it with a kitchen cloth and leave to rise in a warm spot for 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours, or until it reaches the edge.

Preheat the oven to 250-275 degrees C.

Prick the dough with a fork (to let the air out), and put the tin on the oven rack (grill) placed at the lowest point in the oven.

Bake the bread for 5 minutes – then lower the temperature to 185 degrees C. Bake for approximately 65 minutes.

Take the bread out of the baking tin at once and leave it to cool on the rack.

This bread must be completely cold before you cut it into thin slices.

The bread can be put in the deep freezer – no problem.

The bread is delicious with any kind of cheese or chacuterie – and it is about the healthiest bread you can get!

Bon appetit!