Pain de Lodève

Ingredients

• 1 kg strong white bread flour, high-protein, unbleached
• 850 ml water, at 24°C; represents 85% hydration, the midpoint of the 80–90% range
• 200 g liquid levain, 100% hydration, active and mature
• 20 g fine sea salt
• For the work surface and couche
• as needed rice flour, used liberally; does not paste with high-hydration dough

Method

1. 1
   Combine the flour and 800 ml of the water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix at first speed only for 8–10 minutes — pétrissage lent. The dough will remain shaggy and deliberately underworked; gluten development is intentionally incomplete at this stage. Add the levain and salt, then incorporate the remaining 50 ml of water. Continue at first speed only until the additions are fully absorbed. The dough is done when it holds together as a single, very slack mass — it will flow rather than stretch when lifted.
2. 2
   Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled container and leave to ferment at 24°C for 3–4 hours. During this period, perform 4–5 sets of gentle folds, spacing them at regular intervals across the bulk fermentation. Each set: wet the hand, reach under the dough, stretch it upward, and fold it over itself, rotating the container a quarter-turn between each fold. Repeat until all four sides have been folded. This is where the dish lives or dies: the folds are the sole means of structural development in this dough, and each set must produce a perceptible tightening. A dough that has received insufficient or overly rough folds will not hold the enormous alveoli that define Pain de Lodève. By the final set, the dough should feel appreciably more cohesive and should domed slightly at the centre.
3. 3
   Flour a work surface very heavily with rice flour. Turn the dough out in a single motion — do not degas or pre-shape. Using a bench scraper, divide the mass into rough rectangles of 400–600 g with decisive, single cuts. Handle each piece as little as possible. Transfer each piece seam-side up onto a heavily rice-floured couche or parchment-lined tray, again using floured hands and the bench scraper together in one swift movement. The pieces retain their rough, organic form entirely — no tightening, no pre-shape, no bench rest.
4. 4
   Leave the divided pieces to proof for 30–45 minutes at room temperature. The final proof is shorter than for conventional bread because of the active levain and the warm dough temperature. The pieces are ready when they have relaxed and spread very slightly but retain some dome; they should jiggle as a cohesive mass, not slump entirely flat, when the tray is moved.
5. 5
   Heat the oven to 250–260°C with a baking stone or steel on the sole and a steam vessel in the base. Load the loaves seam-side down onto a well-floured peel and slide onto the oven sole with one swift, confident motion. Introduce heavy steam immediately. Do not score, or score minimally only — the naturally irregular surface provides its own expansion points. Bake until the crust is thin, pale gold, and dramatically blistered, and the loaves sound hollow when the base is tapped.