TableJourney

Where to eat Fouace nantaise in Nantes

A dry, faintly sweet enriched bread baked in a six-pointed star, made in the Nantes vineyard since the 19th century and designed from the start to be torn apart and dipped into a glass of Muscadet.

The story of Fouace nantaise

The fouace comes from La Haie-Fouassière, southeast of Nantes in the middle of the Muscadet vineyard, and it was a growers' invention: a way to make money after two bad harvests, and a thing to eat while tasting the wine. It worked well enough that the village took the name of the bread during the Revolution, and before 1914 a settlement of about 1,200 people supported some 80 fouacier producers. The dough is flour, eggs, butter, sugar and yeast, shaped into a round and slashed into six points so it bakes into a star that pulls apart into horns. It is drier and less sweet than a brioche, which is what you want if you are going to dunk it.

How to make Fouace nantaise

Serves: 6

Ingredients

  • 500g strong white flour
  • 10g fine salt
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 10g fresh yeast (or 5g instant dried)
  • 3 eggs
  • 120ml warm milk
  • 120g softened butter
  • 1 tablespoon eau-de-vie (optional)
  • 1 beaten egg, to glaze

Method

  1. Crumble the yeast into the warm milk and leave 10 minutes until it foams.
  2. Mix the flour, sugar and salt. Add the eggs, the yeasted milk and the eau-de-vie, and work to a smooth dough, about 8 minutes in a mixer or 12 by hand.
  3. Add the softened butter a piece at a time, working each one in fully before the next. The dough will slacken and then come back together, glossy and elastic. Cover and prove for 2 hours until doubled.
  4. Knock back, shape into a tight round on a lined tray, and flatten slightly to about 3cm thick. Cut six deep slashes from the edge towards the centre with scissors, without going through the middle, and pull the points gently outwards to make a star.
  5. Prove a second time for 45 minutes, glaze with beaten egg, and bake at 190C for 25 to 30 minutes until deep gold and hollow-sounding underneath. Cool on a rack.

Editor tip. Resist the urge to enrich it further. A fouace is drier than a brioche because its job is to be dipped, and extra butter just makes it greasy.

The editor picks for Fouace nantaise in Nantes are still in research. Meanwhile, see the Nantes signature-dishes index or the Nantes food guide.