Fougasse

After a ciabatta disaster over the weekend, I was determined to make a nice yeast bread.  I took a break from ciabatta, though, and decided to try fougasse.  I was really nervous since the giant, leafy pictures just look so incredible.  I was surprised how well it turned out and how easy it was!  Next time I think I'll add some spices for some extra flavor now that I've got the basic recipe under my belt.  Here are a couple of pictures...sorry, no pictures of the messed up ciabatta! 

I learned from Wikipedia that the leaf shapes are actually supposed to look like an "ear of wheat":

I can't really say mine is a perfect match, but you get the idea! 

The history of the bread (according to Wikipedia) says that fougasse was a provincial bread and there were different variations regionally in France.  Some versions included different savory ingredients (olives, anchovies) and were like pizza without sauce.  Eventually the recipe made its way over to Italy where fougasse evolved into focaccia.  Yum...focaccia may be the next bread recipe to try!