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Pan Gallego con Moña
Panes gallegos or Galician breads are high hydration crusty breads from Galicia, a region in northern Spain. These breads come in various styles, one of which is con moña or “with a bow,” which is a sort of dough top-knot made by twisting or tying a handful of the dough just before baking. The moña bakes up to be a crunchy treat that can be pulled off or left to be part of the middle slices of the loaf. Pan gallego has a lovely brown crust with toasted wheat aromas, and the interior of the bread is golden and airy. It’s a bread that stands on its own, though it is also wonderful for topping and dipping.
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Pan gallego is usually made with a mix of strong white flour and softer local Galician flour. In this recipe, we’ve used a 75:25 mix of strong bread flour and fresh-milled Rouge de Bordeaux flour. While not from Galicia, this landrace wheat does have European origin (France) and is now grown in North Dakota.
Saltolysed dough, ripe sourdough starter
In addition to its neat crunchy top-knot, this bread is airy all around and fun to make. The moña can be created in a few different ways, including twisting or tying a handful of dough at the top of the shaped round. Either way, the pulling action on the top of the dough impacts the crumb structure (internal pattern of air pockets), usually making a tighter area at the base of the moña and bigger air holes around it.
The video below shows a gentle shaping approach you can use to get a relatively even and open crumb. Although there are still bigger air pockets on the top of the slices, the gluten structure and fermentation are well developed throughout.
Pan Gallego con Moña
Pan Gallego con Moña is a style of bread from Galicia, Spain. It's is made with a strong, high hydration dough, and a bow or "moña" is twisted on the top of the dough just before it's baked. Not only is it a fun dough to shape, the crunchy brown crust and creamy pocketed crumb make it a spectacular bread to enjoy all by itself or dipped in olive oil and herbs.
Ingredients
Instructions
Shopping List
Rouge de Bordeaux Whole Grain Flour
Heirloom Rouge de Bordeaux Wheat Berries
High Protein Bread Flour
Sourdough Starter (Dry)
FibraMent Oven Baking Stones
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Parchment Paper Sheets — 200 Sheets
$19.00Flour Duster
Goose Lame by Wire Monkey
$45.95Breadtopia Hearth Baker
Dough and Storage Bucket w/Lid – 2 qt. Square
Pan Gallego con Moña