Recently, I was hankering for a good burger. We found an awesome butcher in Mercato Piazza San Giovanni di Dio where you could get grade cuts of meat. I got for myself some ground meat for the patties. But the problem was the buns!
(This is a cheat picture as it’s a vegetarian burger)
In Italy, the ingredients for regular, freshly made bread are flour, yeast, water and salt.
Any other additional ingredients (like sesame seeds, eggs, milk etc.) are legally required to be called ‘special bread’ instead. Which is why it’s a good habit to read, or ask about the ingredients on the labels, especially when you are on a special diet.
Anyhow, one rule of thumb that I’ve discovered is that if these speciality breads (like sandwich breads, burger buns and hotdog rolls) are packaged in plastic, and are kept in the non refrigerated section, a big chance that these breads were treated with alcohol to make them soft.
While there are some thoughts that it is justifiable to consume, as alcohol evaporates in high temperatures, I prefer to avoid it where I can. It’s such a chore trying to find speciality bread without ingredients that I do not consume, so imagine how enraptured I was when we found sandwich bread which was good for us!
Anyhow, I was so unhappy and feeling so indignant about unfair the whole situation was, that I was pleasantly surprised to find that Chef John, (who I adore) actually published a video on how to make burger buns. It looked so easy too. I was so intrigued that I was compelled to make them ASAP!
By the way, in Italian, yeast is lievito. We only managed to find the fresh cube ones rather than the dry ones. Not sure if one is better than the other. I’ve never worked with yeast before nor made bread, so it was fascinating to see them grow …
And grow … At one point, I was concerned that the dough would get too big for the sheet tray.
But I think we just need a bigger sheet tray :p
Oh gosh everyone, if only you could smell the kitchen as the buns were freshly made. It was so lovely! So rustic! So comforting!
I’m so amazed I made these! They are so pretty! Plus the taste easily beats the one you get from the stores. Do try them out! You’d be so happy and proud of yourself when you make them.
At the moment, 4 of the cooked buns are in the freezer so we could defrost them when we are in the mood for burgers again (You need to consume fresh bread immediately as they turn hard after a few days) But I’d definitely make a new batch again in a heartbeat. They are amazing!
Sidenote : Look who followed me on instagram. I feel so omg-fangirl-moment. HAHAHAHA!
I cannot sleep now :p