Simit

Ingredients

• For the dough
• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 7 g instant dried yeast
• 300 ml water, lukewarm
• 10 g fine salt
• For the pekmez dip
• 60 ml pekmez (grape molasses)
• 180 ml water
• For coating
• 300 g raw sesame seeds, spread on a wide tray

Method

1. 1
   Combine the flour, yeast, salt, and lukewarm water. Mix to a shaggy mass, then knead on an unfloured surface for 10 minutes. No fat is added; the dough must be lean to produce the required chewy, structured crumb. The dough is ready when the surface is smooth and pulls back when pressed with a finger.
2. 2
   Place the dough in a bowl, cover, and leave to rise at room temperature until doubled in volume. The surface will be domed and the dough will spring back slowly, not instantly, when pressed.
3. 3
   Place a baking stone or heavy steel on the oven's lowest shelf and heat the oven to 230 °C. The stone must be fully saturated with heat before the simit are loaded; allow at least 45 minutes of preheating.
4. 4
   Divide the dough into equal pieces of approximately 90–100 g each. Roll each piece into a rope roughly 60 cm long. Loop the rope, twist twice, and join the ends firmly, pressing to seal, forming a ring of 2–2.5 cm cross-section. Thicker rings over-colour on the exterior before the centre sets. Rest the shaped rings on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes uncovered; the slight skin that forms holds the pekmez coating better.
5. 5
   Mix the pekmez with water at a ratio of 1 part molasses to 3 parts water; whisk until fully combined. Submerge each rested ring in the diluted pekmez for 30 seconds, turning once to coat all surfaces. This is where the dish lives or dies: the coating must be thin and even — undiluted molasses is too thick and burns black during baking, while an insufficient dip produces a pale exterior with no caramelisation and poorly adhered sesame.
6. 6
   Lift each ring from the dip, allow excess to drip for a moment, then press firmly into the tray of raw sesame seeds on both sides and around the outer edge. A properly made simit is almost entirely covered in sesame; patches of bare dough are a quality defect. Press the seeds in — loose seeds will fall during baking.
7. 7
   Transfer the seeded rings directly onto the preheated baking stone. Bake at 230 °C until deep amber on the surface and underside and the sesame is toasted and fragrant. The crust will be crackly and lacquered. The base, when tapped, will sound hollow.