For the sole purpose of research on the above subject, I bought two
Ciabatta rolls yesterday, each in a different gourmet market with a
fine bakery department, Agata & Valentina and Citarella.

I tasted half of each yesterday, first just the roll and then with
unsalted butter and Italian Fontina cheese. Neither roll had much, if
any taste, but it was nice and fresh and I liked the consistency of
the dough and with the addition of the butter and cheese it was very
enjoyable. I drank a glass of Mondavi Merlot with it.

I had the second halves for brunch today. I toasted the rolls, as
they were quite dry this morning. They still had not much taste, at
least none I could identify, but with butter and a very special Prize
Winning Peach Jam, it was delicious. I guess it is the crunch more
than anything else I liked.

Perhaps Ciabatta Bread is not supposed to have much flavor?

"Margaret Suran" > wrote in message
...
> For the sole purpose of research on the above subject, I bought two
> Ciabatta rolls yesterday, each in a different gourmet market with a fine
> bakery department, Agata & Valentina and Citarella.
>
> I tasted half of each yesterday, first just the roll and then with
> unsalted butter and Italian Fontina cheese. Neither roll had much, if any
> taste, but it was nice and fresh and I liked the consistency of the dough
> and with the addition of the butter and cheese it was very enjoyable. I
> drank a glass of Mondavi Merlot with it.
>
> I had the second halves for brunch today. I toasted the rolls, as they
> were quite dry this morning. They still had not much taste, at least none
> I could identify, but with butter and a very special Prize Winning Peach
> Jam, it was delicious. I guess it is the crunch more than anything else I
> liked.
>
> Perhaps Ciabatta Bread is not supposed to have much flavor?
>

Ciabatta bread gains much fame as the two slices of bread holding together
many sandwiches with many varying ingredients. That is the only way that I
use this bread. For me, I am not looking for a bread that deflects from the
fillings.

Alan

I think ciabatta most certainly has a flavor...perhaps it comes from
different ingredients, say, olive oil or milk that is used sometimes,
but I find it to be avery flavorful bread. At least with my ciabatta,
it was definitely not as tasteful as ciabatta I've had from some
bakeries around town.

I kind of liken ciabatta to a less-dense and wider (typically) french
bread. I also think the flavor of ciabatta leans more towards the
"savory" side.

On 17 Apr 2005 14:55:23 -0700, "Her Subj." >
wrote:

>I think ciabatta most certainly has a flavor...perhaps it comes from
>different ingredients, say, olive oil or milk that is used sometimes,
>but I find it to be avery flavorful bread. At least with my ciabatta,
>it was definitely not as tasteful as ciabatta I've had from some
>bakeries around town.
>
>I kind of liken ciabatta to a less-dense and wider (typically) french
>bread. I also think the flavor of ciabatta leans more towards the
>"savory" side.


There is an excellent web site, one of whose creators posts to Usenet,
that has extensive writing about ciabatta, as well as other Italian
breads and foods. They are a fine source of information and may give
you some hints or you may find a recipe that is more to your liking
than Reinhart's.

This will take you right to their main bread page.

http://www.theartisan.net/bredfrm.htm

I did read in one of your post (IIRC) that you used a half recipe.
Sometimes, when trying a bread recipe for the first time, it can be
tricky to halve the ingredients. Something may have not worked well
because of that.

In addition to suggestions others have made, there are any number of
reasons why a loaf fails and, as anyone who bakes bread regularly can
tell you, sometimes you can tell what went wrong and sometimes it
remains a mystery as the next time the recipe is used, everything
works. Flour and water are quite cheap and though we invest our time
and efforts, the experimenting can be fun. It can take awhile to
perfect a recipe, even when it comes from a book or author that is a
trusted source.

If you wish to conquer the Reinhart recipe, forge on, or try another
that may result in something more to your tastes.

Boron