He said he needed a fish called Brill. Frankly, I had never heard of it before (maybe its called Wrilliam). Anyway, he said that any flat fish would do. So Saturday dawn and still a bit dark, we drove to Tekka market in Little India to buy his ingredients. The night before I snuck a peek at the internet and did some research on this brill, lest I overlook it when we got to the market. 

The weather has been quite humid so despite the wee hours, the air was warm. We spied some South Asian workers having their breakfast drink of kopi. This is cofee made from beans roasted in corn oil. It is diluted with hot water, sweetened and creamed with condensed milk. This is the common breakfast beverage here in Singapore for most people. I made a comment to Vincent that it is common for me to encounter these workers asking for an extra shot of evaporated milk in their drink. One of these days, I will ask them why.

Apart from humidity, the air was rank with the usual strong market smell of fish, meat and produce. As soon as we stepped into the fish section, we saw a fishmonger Ah-pek setting up his display of fish. Lo and behold, I saw a brill-looking fish. I asked him what it was and he mumbled that it was a sole and that if we buy this early he is too busy to clean it. I gestured to Vincent to see if it was indeed what he wanted.   He nodded but to be sure we went around the market briefly to see if there were others. So we plonked down $27 for three pieces fo the fish. Quite ugly fish really with 2 eyes on the same side – strange fish these bottom dwellers.

Next we went to a stall selling mutton and goat meat to get the lamb shoulder.  It was fascinating to see this hardly-awake butcher debone and trim the lamb leg. After buying some vegetables, we were off. Had a quick breakfast of mee goreng at the Bedok Hawker Centre. I had a glass of kopi while Vicent had his teh tarik. It was quite odd eating the spicy noodles so early in the morning.

Once we got home, my son set about preparing the fish. He showed the maid how to descale the fish inside a plastic bag to ensure that the scales don’t fly all over the place. And since it was a French dish, I went about preparing some French bread based on Reinhart’s BBA formula.

Later that afternoon, he went through a laborious process of prepping the fish. I had a chance to sneak out and get a bottle of French white wine before he finished up.

I saw the transformation of an ugly-looking fish into a very tasty and good-looking dish. It was excellent.

Barbue filet Dugléré style

Baguettes

Here is the recipe (this is for a single loaf):

Sponge

• 195 g    Gold Medal Organic all purpose flour
• 140 g    Red Mill Dark Rye Flour
• 30 g      Red Mill Dark Rye Meal
• 42.5 g   water
• 341 g    Guinness Stout

Dough

• 195 g   Gold Medal Organic all purpose flour
• 2.5 g   Fleischmanns Active Dry Yeast
• 7 g      salt
• 15 g    Nu-vit flaxseed (chopped)

Process

Combine all sponge ingredients in large mixing bowl. Cover bowl with cling film and let rest for 4 hours at room temperature. Keep watch over the dough as bread recipes normally call for 70F room temprature. A 17F warmer temperature speeds up the fermentation process, needing about 50% less time.

Add the dough ingredients and once fully incorporated, transfer to a lightly-floured flat surface/counter.  Manually knead for 10 minutes until the gluten has begun to develop. Using a scraper helps as the dough is sticky. Do not add any more flour at this point.

Move the dough into an oiled container and let rise for one hour. Again, note the room temperature. A room thermometer is one of the more indispensable tools of a baker in making consistent breads.

On a lightly-floured counter shape the dough into a boule and let rest for 15 minutes. Thereafter, transfer to a lined-banneton/proofing basket with the boule’s seam facing up. Make sure that the proofing basket is well-floured. Proof for about 30-45 minutes. The flour will leave a veil on your boule later. 

Pre-heat the oven to 450F mid-way through proofing.  You may use a baking stone or overturned cast-iron skillet at the bottom of the oven to help build a heat mass.

Once proofing is done, overturn the banneton on a baking parchment sheet. Do this on a peel or the back of a cookie sheet. Score the boule using a sharp-knife – preferably serrated but ensure that you score with deliberate and swift strokes.

Transfer the boule on parchment paper directly to the baking stone or over-turned skillet. Bake with steam using any of the usual methods for 15 minutes of initial bake time.  The use of ice cubes on the bottom tray is effective.

Bake at 450F for the first 15 minutes, then turn down to 425F for the rest of the 30 minute bake time. Test that the internal temperature is at 90-100F using an instant read thermometer. The sound should be hollow when knocked.

Cool the bread for at least 2 hours before eating. Best kept in the fridge and toasted the following days.

Notes

To optimize the Omega-3 from flaxseed, it has to be chopped or roughly-milled. Do so only shortly before use as it can turn rancid.

Rye bread will be a bit moist and sticky if not allowed to cool properly.  Resist the temptation and let the loaf rest.