Here's everything you knead to know.
You may have noticed lovely, leaf-shaped loaves hanging in your local bakery. With its extensive crust and fancy, floral form, the fougasse is shaping up to be one of the hottest trends of the year.
A close cousin of the focaccia, the fougasse is a flatbread from the south of France that has been artfully scored and shaped to resemble an ear of wheat. In its simplest form, it’s sprinkled with salt, but you can also find it layered with lardons, olives and anchovies or showered with herbs and cheese.
Looking to impress your friends? This oh-la-la loaf is an easy way to do it (especially if you’re buying it from the bakery and not making it yourself). With all those trendy cut-outs, you also get more crust, which means lots of crunchy bits for dipping in tapenade or dunking in soups or stews. No need to slice it up either – this picnic-friendly loaf is made for tearing and sharing.
Four places to try fougasse in Australia
Loulou, Lavender Bay
Loulou Boulanger in Lavender Bay serves up two versions of the specialty bread – a plain fougasse and a fresh herb variety, which is infused with olive oil and seasoned with herbs en Provence. Full the full experience, pick up some accoutrements while you’re there. Our picks are the pork rillettes and chicken liver parfait.
Fred’s, Paddington
Fougasse is a mainstay on the menu at Merivale restaurant Fred’s in Paddington. Rather than just one giant slab, it’s made here as small individual serves, with each golden disc scored with two deep cuts. Like the ancient panis focacius, it’s cooked in the hearth, and served with both whipped butter and olive oil so you can dip and spread.
Lumos Bakery, McKinnon
Carina La Delfa was a former pastry chef at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Press Club and Gazi before she opened her fresh new bakery, Lumos in McKinnon. The sweet and savoury selection includes sourdough, seeded rolls and an elegant olive-studded fougasse, alongside croissants, danishes, macarons and other French delights.
Boulangerie 113, Adelaide
The familiar figure of the fougasse can be spotted hanging from metal hooks in this rustic French bakery in Goodwood. Baker Jeremy Mavromatakis was one of the first to introduce the Provencal flatbread to Adelaide, which he bakes alongside slow-fermented sourdough, baguettes, batards and flaky French patisserie.
Related recipe: Our olive and rosemary fougasse is the fancy baguette your next dinner party needs
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