Pan Francés Yucateco (La Barra)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer with dough hook, or a wide mixing bowl and a strong arm
• •Kitchen scale for dividing the dough evenly
• •Heavy baking sheet lined with parchment
• •Cast iron skillet for the steam pan
• •Cooling rack or a woven palm petate

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the huano

   Start here. Cut the dried huano into six strips, each one a little longer than your finished loaf will be. Submerge them in warm water for at least 30 minutes while you mix the dough. Dry huano is brittle and will crack on the loaf. Wet huano is supple and lays down clean. If you skip this and force a dry strip onto a proofed loaf, the strip breaks and the bread collapses where it crossed.

   Huano is the dried leaf of the jipijapa palm, the same palm Yucatecan abuelas use to weave hats and to wrap cochinita pibil. If you cannot find huano outside the Peninsula, a strip of dried banana leaf is the only honest substitute. Parchment is not.
2. 2

   Mix the dough

   In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the flour, salt, yeast, and sugar together. The salt and yeast can touch now because the salt is dispersed. Add the warm water and the soft lard. Mix on low with the dough hook for two minutes, until everything is hydrated and there is no dry flour at the bottom of the bowl. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable shortening will give you a dry, chalky crumb. Butter will give you a brioche. Neither is pan francés.

3. 3

   Knead until smooth

   Raise the mixer speed to medium-low. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough should pull cleanly off the sides of the bowl, wrap itself around the hook, and feel smooth and elastic when you pinch a piece between your fingers. If you stretch a small piece thin, it should hold a translucent windowpane before tearing. If it tears immediately, knead two minutes more. By hand, plan on 15 minutes of work on a lightly floured counter.

4. 4

   First rise

   Lightly oil a clean bowl. Place the dough inside, turn once to coat, and cover with a damp cotton cloth. Let it rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. In Mérida, the kitchen is the warm spot. In a colder kitchen, set the bowl on top of the refrigerator or near a sunny window. The dough should hold the dimple of a fingertip and slowly spring halfway back when you press it.

5. 5

   Divide and shape the loaves

   Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Punch it down once to release the gas. Divide into six equal pieces, about 290 grams each if you have a scale. Roll each piece into a tight cylinder about 25 centimeters long, tapered slightly at the ends. The Mérida baguette is shorter and plumper than the French one. This is the shape of la barra. A torta de cochinita needs a loaf that holds its juices, not a thin breadstick.

   Press the seam closed firmly on the underside. Roll the loaf back and forth under your palms with even pressure from the center out. If a loaf has a thick belly and skinny ends, fix it before the second rise. After the rise, the shape is locked in.
6. 6

   Lay the huano

   Place the shaped loaves seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving 5 centimeters between them. Take the soaked huano strips out of the water and pat them dry. Lay one strip lengthwise down the center of each loaf, pressing very gently so it adheres but does not sink. Así se hace y punto. The huano is not decoration. It scorches the top of the bread during baking, leaves a long dark stripe down the spine of the loaf, and gives la barra its smoky perfume and its visual signature. Without it, you have a dinner roll.

7. 7

   Second rise

   Cover the loaves loosely with the damp cloth. Let them rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until visibly puffed and the dough feels soft and airy when you press the side with a fingertip. The huano strip should still be in place. If it lifted during the rise, press it back down gently before baking.

8. 8

   Heat the oven, prepare the steam

   About 30 minutes before baking, heat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Place a cast iron skillet or a heavy metal pan on the bottom rack to heat with the oven. The pan francés yucateco wants a soft, thin crust, not a hard French crust, but the burst of steam at the start of the bake gives the loaf its proper expansion and a tender top once it cools.

9. 9

   Bake with steam

   Slide the tray of loaves onto the middle rack. Immediately pour 1 cup of hot water into the heated cast iron skillet on the bottom rack and shut the oven door fast. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. The loaves are done when the crust is pale gold, the bottom sounds hollow when tapped, and the huano strip has scorched to a dark brown stripe down the center. The internal temperature should read 195°F to 200°F (90°C to 93°C).

   Do not bake to a dark French-bread color. Pan francés yucateco is a soft loaf. The crust should yield under finger pressure, not crack. If the tops are browning too fast, tent loosely with foil for the last 5 minutes.
10. 10

    Cool on a woven petate

    Transfer the loaves to a wire rack or, the way they do it in Mérida, to a woven palm petate set on the counter. The huano strip stays on the bread. Customers in Mérida pull it off at the table or leave it on for the look. Let the loaves cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. The crumb is still setting inside while the loaf is hot. Cut them too early and the inside compresses into a gummy line. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •If you cannot find huano outside the Peninsula, the only honest substitute is a thin strip of dried banana leaf, soaked the same way. Parchment, twine, and decorative grasses are not options. A loaf without huano is a loaf without yucateco in its name.
• •Use real manteca de cerdo, the cream-colored kind from a Mexican carnicería, not the hydrogenated white block from the supermarket. The hydrogenated stuff has been deodorized and has no flavor. Good lard tastes like pork and that is what the loaf needs.
• •Pan francés yucateco is meant to be eaten the same day. By tomorrow, the soft crust hardens and the crumb dries out. That is why the panaderías in Mérida bake three times a day. If you have leftover loaves, slice them open and toast them on a comal for molletes, or cube them for the base of a sopa yucateca de pan.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made through the first rise the night before, then refrigerated overnight. Pull it out 1 hour before shaping to take the chill off. The slow cold ferment deepens the flavor and is how some Mérida panaderías do it for their morning bake.
• •Pan francés yucateco does not keep well. Eat the loaves the day they are baked. Leftover bread can be frozen in zip bags for up to two weeks, reheated wrapped in foil at 350°F for 8 minutes, and used for tortas the same day. No me vengas con atajos: never microwave this bread. It turns gummy and ruins the crumb.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)