What is Whole Wheat Ciabatta?
Ciabatta means slipper in Italian and is baked into a long oval-shaped loaf so that each slice is greater in length than in height. The whole wheat version uses whole wheat and all-purpose flour. The crust is golden brown and coated in flour. The body of the bread is white, full of holes, and has a chewy and soft texture that toasts well. The flavor is mild, nutty, yeasty, and pairs perfectly with sandwiches.
Ingredients
All purpose flour comes from wheat and though wheat is cultivated all around the world today, it was first cultivated in Turkey 10,000 years ago. All purpose flour is white in color and has a soft texture. This incredibly versatile flour is used in everything from breads, cakes, pastries, crackers, pasta, sauces and much more because of its pleasing and mild flavor that is slightly nutty and buttery. The gluten protein is what helps hold together breads and other products, part of what makes all purpose wheat flour so popular.
Whole wheat flour is made by grinding the wheat kernels until they form a powdery flour. Unlike all purpose flour which only uses part of the kernel, this flour has a greater flavor due to using the whole kernel. The flour is a pale tan color and tastes mild, nutty and sometimes gently sweet. It is used in baked goods, especially bread and can be found in many other food products.
Water is a substance and chemical compound made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It is clear, fluid, flavorless and odorless. Water is a necessity in nearly every aspect of life, including cooking, baking and hydrating the human body. Water can be served as a cold beverage, or at any temperature comfortable to the mouth and skin.
Rye is a grain in the wheat family and is used for baked goods, beer and distilled alcohols. Rye is a grain that produces a darker bread than a fully wheat based bread. The flour is finely milled and has a pale tan/cream color. The flavor is earthy, nutty and full with a hint of sweetness. Rye flour makes hearty, dark loaves of European style bread.
Sunflower seeds come from the sunflower, a tall flower with a huge face. The seeds cover the face of the sunflower and are small grey and shaped into thin teardrops with a flat bottom and pointed top. The flavor is mild and nutty and when toasted becomes richer and a bit oily from the heat. Sunflower seeds are a popular snack, topping and additional ingredient to salads.
Flax seeds are tiny seeds from the flax plant. These seeds are about half the size or less, of an apple seed. There are two common varieties of flax, golden and brown. The golden flax is tan colored and the brown is a medium chocolate shade. Each has a mild sheen and are shaped like slightly flattened teardrops. The flavor is nutty, strong and tastes a bit like linseed. Flax seeds act as a binder in baked goods and because of this is sometimes used in place of eggs to hold dough and batter together. They are a common seed used to top breads and rolls.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
Honey is made by the honey bee. The bees collect flower nectar and then deposit it into the honeycombs in the beehive. Once inside the honeycomb, the nectar breaks down into simple sugars. Evaporation via the fanning of the bees wings and the shape of the honeycomb helps excess liquid to evaporate, creating the sweet syrup that is used around the world. Honey is an amber color that can vary from pale yellow to dark brown. The texture is of an extra thick syrup. All honey is sweet, but the flavor can change considerably from floral to herbal and even nutty, depending on the flowers that the bees collected honey from. Honey is used in both sweet and savory dishes, as well as in tea as a sweetener.
Yeast is a single celled organism used in food and beverage production. It both naturally occurs and is added in to certain foods such as breads, beer and wine. Specific kinds of yeast are used to add depth of flavor to savory foods. Yeast is usually sold as tiny beige granules. It leavens bread, ferments beer and imparts a satisfying umami flavor.
Cornmeal is ground from corn kernels and can be white or yellow. Unlike finely textured corn flour, corn meal is coarser. Cornmeal has a sweet and nutty taste. It is similar in flavor to fresh corn, though less sugary. Cornmeal provides a texture to baked goods that is denser and is less refined than wheat flour, but still light. It is one of the main ingredients in cornbread, a quick bread dear to the American South.
