Eric Demay

I just started working my way trough Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio cookbook in which he breaks down the basic compositions that direct the making of so many dishes. Like he enouces so simply: once you know a series of basic ratios, you’ll know a thousand recipes. Even though I have already made and used many of these ratios in the kitchen, it was always without really understanding the relationship between the different ingredients. And as Rhulman’s hands-on approach to cooking [and writing] is so appealing and engaging, I was compelled to follow him back to the basics, starting with chapter 1: Doughs and Batters.

Pizza dough (5 parts flour, 3 parts water) was made—and devoured—over the Christmas holidays, and I just can’t get enough of it. Tender yet crusty, puffy though not chewy. It’s only then can you understand that good pizza only comes from good pizza dough: toppings won’t really matter if your dough can’t back them up.*

rustic and complete: it has risen indeed

And tonight, back to bread (same as pizza, but with a bit more yeast), a simple first iteration of a plain boule with a bit of coarse salt on top. The dough was kneaded by hand and cooked using a closed dutch-oven at high temperature, keeping the moisture trapped so the bread crusts nicely, just like in a professional oven. I haven’t eaten it just yet though: I’m waiting for breakfast tomorrow, with a batch of slow cooked scrambled eggs and some homemade jam. Yay for a good start tomorrow. I’ll give you an update.

NEXT EDITION: probably try the walnut/olive ciabatta he raves so much about. Find a Marcato machine so I can move on to pasta.

• Do check out what Una Pizza Napoletana—a purist pizza joint in Manhantan—has to say about it.