Recipe: Pâine la Țest (Oltenian Ash Bread)

This recipe hails from Oltenia where the bread is made under an earthenware cloche called a țest (tzest). It has a direct lineage to ancient Rome, where baking was done under a testu or clibanus and placed into a wood-burning hearth. The cloche’s sides and top were covered with hot embers to ensure good heat distribution. In Romania, it was traditional to place the țest on the bare ground, but in more modern times we’ve used flat, stone or brick surfaces. I have also seen it used inside the house, where the owners had an old, open fireplace and put the cloche in there. I’ve adapted the method for a standard oven to give similar results. The dough is pierced before baking so that it doesn’t puff up and has a soft, slightly gooey crumb, utterly moreish when served warm.

Pâine la Țest (Oltenian Ash Bread)

Makes a 23cm (9in) loaf 

350g (12 oz/2 ¾ cups) strong bread flour 

7g (1 sachet) fast-action dried yeast 

8g (scant 1 ½ teaspoons) fine salt 

225ml (8 fl oz/scant 1 cup) lukewarm water 

sunflower or olive oil, for greasing 

1 tomato (optional) 

1. Stir the flour, yeast, salt and water together in a bowl, cover and leave for 15 minutes. 
2. On a lightly oiled work surface, knead the dough a few times until smooth, then roll it into a ball and place back in the bowl. Cover and leave for 1 hour. 
3. Grease the base and sides of a 23cm (9in) non-stick, ovenproof pan with a lid (I use a heavy sauté pan) with oil. Place the dough in the middle and flatten it, pushing gently to cover the base of the pan. Cover with the lid and leave for 20 minutes. 
4. Preheat the oven to 220°C fan (425°F/gas 7). 
5. Brush the top of the bread with 1 tablespoon of oil and use a fork to prick it all over. I like to make a pattern like sun rays, leaving a small circle in the middle. Some people like to slicea tomato in half and rub it on the bread for a darker crust. 
6. Put the lid on and place the pan in the oven on a middle rack. Bake for 35 minutes until the bread is lightly golden. Remove the lid and bake for 5 more minutes to get a darker colour on the crust, then transfer the bread to a cooling rack.
7. Eat it slightly warm or on the day you bake it.

Excerpted from Danube by Irina Georgescu, published by Hardie Grant London, December 2024, RRP $43.00 Hardcover.