Destination: El Bosque

It's no secret that I'm a carb girl. Most of you recall that when I departed for Naples I referred to it as my "no carb left behind tour" so the fact that I signed up for a foodie bread making tour should be no surprise. Before you roll your eyes and understand why I've put a few additional pounds on, at least hear me out on the wonderful flat roll we call el mollete. 

The mollete the most common of breads found in Andalucía. It's a soft white round, flatish roll toasted for breakfast before being topped with jamón y tomate and drizzled with aceite. The lightly floured exterior and light interior is very comparable to an English muffin, although the mollete is larger than most hamburger buns. Tienes hambre? Vale. 

This weekend's adventure through the white washed towns in la Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park the bus followed the signs through the green hills with fading sunflowers and we ended up in the tiny puebla of El Bosque. Like the town's name suggests it was situated at the foot of Mount Albarracin and trees dotted the streets and bridges spanned the streams trickling through town. 

Our first stop was desayuno, because we couldn't work on empty stomachs. Café con leche, zumo de naranja, y tostadas filled our tables. Tubs of lard, manteca colorá y zurrapa de lomo appeared on the table to spread on the toasted molletes. Plates of jamón followed with bowls of crushed tomatoes creating various options for the two halves of toast on my plate.

The next stop was to Molino de Abajo windmill that was built in the 18th century. For the past 300 years this mill has been grinding what for the use of making bread. In the beginning years of the windmill, a donkey would turn the wheels causing the wheels to spin, grinding the kernels into flour. Three generations ago, the family decided to draw water from the river and channel it off for hydraulic energery for 2 mills and also for large mixers for the bread dough.

When the water flows from the channel the wheels start spinning and although relatively quiet, the air quickly fills with a fine dust as the collection tub collects a mound of flour. The flour still has to be sifted prior to use but it's a simple, albeit messy process.

Once the dough was ready we each got a piece and got to work making a roll. Since we were the second group to visit the mill, they took the mollete dough, so we created a slightly crustier roll as the smell of fresh bread filled the air in the kitchen.

Yes, that's my attempt at a fish that made a yummy dinner paired with goat cheese also picked up in the town, some red wine from the north, and a splash of olive oil from the region. With a bag of molletes, two types of goat cheese, and a few more freckles from the sunny day I headed back home with plans of revolutionizing the egg McMuffin with these flat disks ready for toasting. Who needs a bagel when a freshly baked mollete can be found?