The evening before you plan to make the bread, combine all the ingredients mentioned above for ferment in a medium bowl. Mix well and leave the covered ferment in the refrigerator for at least 8 hrs. This could be left in the refrigerator for up to 48hrs. After overnight ferment, you would see below that my ferment is all bubbly.

On the day of making the bread, remove the ferment from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

Now add all the ingredients to the stand mixer attached with a dough hook attachment. Mix well and knead to form a smooth and elastic dough.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest for about an hour or until it is doubled in volume.

Once the dough has doubled in volume, divide them into 6 pieces almost weighing 150 gms each.

Form a smooth ball with each dough piece.

Then with a sharp knife or a bench scraper, make a cut in the center almost half way up.

Now stretch the dough outwards. With your palm, flatten the dough above the cut.

Make a shallow slit in the middle of the dough just above the cut.

Do this for the rest of the dough.

Place all the shaped dough on a baking tray and cover them with a kitchen cloth. Let it rest until they are doubled in size or about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Also prepare some hot water in the meantime.

Once the shaped dough has rested, dust the dough with some flour to give it a rustic look. I used a metal strainer to dust the flour evenly

Place the tray in the oven and also leave a tray with hot water in the bottom rack of the oven. This bread bakes with the steam inside the oven to give it the hard crust and a soft interior.

Bake for about 30 minutes are until golden brown in color.

Remove the breads and let it cool in the cooling rack.

Enjoy the crusty Pataqueta bread with a bowl of soup or as a sandwich!