Just watched the first episode. Awesome! Thanks for sharing

Just watched episode 1 and about had a foodgasm 

caliking said:

This is turning into a problem. 

Still cant get that focaccia out of my head, and then it was joined by that ragu and pasta. 

Homemade pasta, tossed in homemade pesto. With chopped lamb ribs that I made recently. 


I had forgotten how good homemade pasta tastes!

Yes! Homemade pasta is night and day from commercial. Looks killer. 
I'm with ya on the focaccia - it's haunting my dreams. 

caliking said:

GATraveller said:
Yes! Homemade pasta is night and day from commercial. Looks killer. 

I'm with ya on the focaccia - it's haunting my dreams. 

 I think I've figured out some parts of the recipe, from watching that part a few times, and based on the way the dough looks and handles:
-350ish g (or less) flour
- 70% hydration
- long fermentation. Maybe cold fermented in the fridge for a day or two? The way the dough holds the dimples made by their fingers means its been proofed for a while.

Still haven't figured out what is meant by "hard" and "soft" flour, and what proportions. They mention malt extract, but I wonder if that is sprouted wheat flour. 

I've checked out many recipes on the interwebz, and nothing looks quite like what they made. So I guess I'll keep working on it

Hard vs soft flour refers to the protein/gluten content in the wheat. Soft is low protein. 

@HeavyG thanks for those links. Hadn’t found them when I searched for Ligurian focaccia, and it didn’t strike me to look for the book/series website. Doh!

still working on the malt part. I’ll try sprouted wheat flour, then maybe malt powder and see. 

but that recipe seems more Josey Baker than Diego. The dough is much more relaxed in the show than what is described in the recipe i.e. no stretching, waiting, stretching again over 30 mins to form it in the sheet pan.

@GATraveller Cold ferment for 12hrs or so should make the dough handle like it does in the show, but that’s not quite a “in time for breakfast kind of timeline. And I don’t recall them adding olive oil or sugar to the dough. Guess I’ll have to watch it... again  It also seems silky, as if there is some tipo 00 in the dough. Just my speculation. 

@legume , @DoubleEgger you both may be right. From what I can tell, hard flour may be from durum wheat, which is possibly harvested in a different season, and has higher protein content?

This is getting geeky, but it’s kinda fun to try and reverse engineer a recipe like this Scales be damned, @20stone!!

DoubleEgger said:

Here’s a good article on flour. 

https://carolinagarofani.quora.com/Flour-The-Other-White-Powder-1

Thanks for the link. Very informative article. 

Caliqueen has has been on a macaron quest, and the article mentions 00 for macarons, so I’ll pass that on to her. 

I’ll try to contact the author and see if she can shed some light on this. 

Great series! Am I the only one who is searching the interwebs for Yamaroku soy sauce after watching episode 2?

I've not had the Yamaroku but I have bought another traditionally made brand - Kishibori which is also made in 100 year old wooden barrels. It was nice but is a little too expensive for me to use for most purposes and mostly just used it for dipping. I think the last time I bought some it was around $25 for a 10 or 12 ounce bottle.

Power watched this series. Worth the time invested. Thank you for sharing.

Don't have netflix and the episodes are not available on Exodus yet, can't wait to watch them.
Thanks @caliking for the kind words. Here's a short footage of the place. What's not shown is the soy bean getting moldy in a dark room, prior to fermenting in the vats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj_GVA2toFQ&index=5&list=PLJ4JjGZDldHBhhpXV9Wnsra5rRVt8ZvBV

ColtsFan said:

Great series! Am I the only one who is searching the interwebs for Yamaroku soy sauce after watching episode 2?

You are not. Im over $100 in looking for similar. Both good but I have to find the real deal. 

DoubleEgger said:

Hard vs soft 

It’s been a dilemma for ages

DoubleEgger said:

I watched the second episode last night. I would have loved to have seen her getting her blood pressure checked at the end of the episode. The amount of salt that she used on those short ribs was absolutely ridiculous. It was comical when was justified the amount by saying it was just Kosher salt. I literally buckled over laughing when she claimed later that she went light on the salt. I assume she’s built up a huge tolerance like a junkie. 

I’d end up with kidney stones bigger than Stormy’s tatas if I followed any of her advice on salt. I’m tapping out on the final two episodes. 

Chefs love the salt.   Not sure why theses fancy restaurants are not classified as junk food,  it's the same level of salt and sugar as any of the so called fast food joints.

EggNorth said:

DoubleEgger said:

I watched the second episode last night. I would have loved to have seen her getting her blood pressure checked at the end of the episode. The amount of salt that she used on those short ribs was absolutely ridiculous. It was comical when was justified the amount by saying it was just Kosher salt. I literally buckled over laughing when she claimed later that she went light on the salt. I assume she’s built up a huge tolerance like a junkie. 

I’d end up with kidney stones bigger than Stormy’s tatas if I followed any of her advice on salt. I’m tapping out on the final two episodes. 

Chefs love the salt.   Not sure why theses fancy restaurants are not classified as junk food,  it's the same level of salt and sugar as any of the so called fast food joints.

What I saw was far worse than the saltiest meals list... 

https://www.eatthis.com/most-sodium-restaurant-foods/