Pan Di Ramerino

Let’s get things straight: I am a hopeless romantic to the core of my soul.

Please do not confuse my view of romance by associating it with cheesy Hollywood rom-com. Ever.

My family was not rich, we weren’t poor either, but we never held back when it comes to entertaining our imagination. So whenever mom and dad had some extra money, they would take us shopping to our hearts’ content in the bookshop. I guess that is the greatest gift they have ever given me; to know how to seek solace and go places without actually having to budge. It’s all in our mind. How I miss my childhood..

Today is mom’s birthday and I decide to make her something she would love. She loves cake, of course, who doesn’t? But she loves something simpler, preferably with a piece of history behind its origin. So I thought why not make Pan di Ramerino? Not only today is her birthday, today is also Holy Thursday. This is the bread that the people all over Florence and Tuscany has been selling and enjoying every Holy Thursday. Back then, bakeries sell the bread after having it blessed in nearby churches.

Pan di Ramerino means rosemary bread: pan (pane or bread), di (of), ramerino (rosemary). Well, rosemary is actually rosmarino in Italian but the Tuscans dearly hold the dialect, ‘ramerino’ they say. It’s not hard to make this bread and the ingredients are very easy to find. Because mainly, all you need is.. Rosemary.

Makes 12 bread

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 cup golden/black raisins

3 tsp instant yeast

2 tbs sugar

375 gr bread flour

1/4cup wheat bran (optional)

1-2tbs finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon salt

1/2-3/4 cup water

2 eggs

Another egg for egg wash (optional)

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Rosemary heavy syrup:

1/3 cup sugar

a sprig of fresh rosemary

3 tbs water

~Heat on low until the sugar dissolves but not caramelized

Adapted from joepastry.com

Directions:

-The night before (you can do this the same day, though the flavor intensifies overnight); pour the olive oil into a small saucepan. Put 3 fresh rosemary sprigs in ( I accidently put more, which is fine :). Heat it very low for around two minutes. Your hand should not burn when you touch the oil. Let it infuse overnight.

-The morning after; take the rosemary out of the oil. Add the raisins to the pan. Sauté for about 30 seconds to one minute. They will look slightly plump. Strain the raisins, reserve the oil, and set them aside to cool.

-Combine the dry ingredients.

-Mix the rosemary infused oil with eggs and 1/2cup of water. Pour into the dry ingredients.

-Knead until it is elastic, smooth, and supple. Do add more water if your dough is too hard.

-Knead in the raisins and chopped rosemary.

-Remove the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic, and let it rest about an hour until it doubles in size.

-Cut the dough into 12 pieces, shape them into balls and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

-Brush lightly with more olive oil and let them proof about 30 minutes.

-Score a tic-tac-toe pattern (Ack! I completely forgot about scoring. It is fine and doesn’t affect the taste whatsoever) and brush with eggwash.

-Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven, 200C.                                        

-Let them cool on a wire rack and while they’re still warm, apply rosemary heavy syrup glaze.

I have been baking bread for sometime and eating bread for my entire life and this is by far the most elegant bread I have ever tasted. The crust is soft but not fragile and the crumb is like cotton and it's bursting with flavors. 

It is not your typical sweet bread because there is a hint of savoriness inside. I, who do not usually appreciate raisins, truly look at raisins with a renewed astonishment after they're cooked in rosemary infused oil. Speaking of oil, the use of olive oil in this bread somehow nullifies the fact that it uses two eggs. It somehow cuts the richness and leaves a clean aftertaste. Very light indeed!

I don't know about you.. but for me, in my moment of living this life, I am always drawn and enticed by things and people that have come before me. Making bread is not just therapeutic, it is somehow a very spiritual process because, pray tell, what is it that so major that has changed since the first bread was baked? 

I may not be an architect like my dad wanted, because I do not know how to put soul into the plan I drew. But bread, something so simple and humble, is patience comes to life. It's how I quench my unquenchable curiosity, how I retrace the steps of the dreamers that lived their life to the fullest before me.

Have a bread, have a slice of life.

Amy

Submitting this to YeastSpotting

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