Eish Fino

A soft enriched roll with a thin crust, shaped long and narrow so it can be split and filled.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter), dairy (milk).

Ingredients

• 600 g strong white flour
• 250 ml warm milk
• 60 ml warm water
• 7 g fast-action dried yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 10 g salt
• 50 g butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 egg, beaten, for glazing

Method

1. IT IS A SOFT ENRICHED ROLL WITH A THIN CRUST, shaped long and narrow so it can be split and filled. That is the whole brief and every choice follows from it. Milk, butter, sugar and egg in the dough give a tender crumb that tears rather than shatters; a moderate oven and an egg glaze give a thin soft crust instead of a crisp one; and the shape -- about twenty centimetres long and three or four wide -- is sized to a single filled roll. It exists to hold cheese, halawa or fried liver, and a crusty baguette crumb would cut the roof of your mouth and shed its filling.
2. IT IS BAKED AT 180°C, NOT HOT. A moderate oven with no steam. Steam and high heat are what make a crisp crackling crust, which is precisely what this bread must not have. Eighteen to twenty minutes to a pale gold.
3. THE EGG GLAZE IS WHAT KEEPS THE CRUST THIN AND SOFT. Brushed on before baking. It colours the surface quickly so the bread can come out before a thick crust forms, and it stays supple as it cools.
4. THEY ARE SHAPED BY ROLLING UP A FLATTENED PIECE, NOT BY ROLLING A SAUSAGE. Each piece pressed flat, then rolled up tightly from the long side and the seam pinched. That gives a tight spiral inside which holds the roll's shape and stops it flattening as it proves.
5. THEY ARE PROVED UNTIL VISIBLY PUFFY AND NO FURTHER. Forty-five minutes. An enriched dough over-proves into something that collapses in the oven and goes wrinkled.
6. A SHALLOW SLASH DOWN THE LENGTH IS CUT BEFORE BAKING. Not deep. It controls where the roll opens and gives the split a natural line, which matters for a bread whose job is to be cut open.
7. The flour, yeast, sugar and salt stirred together.
8. The warm milk, water, softened butter and 1 egg added and mixed to a soft dough.
9. Kneaded 12 MINUTES until smooth and elastic. Risen 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES.
10. Divided into 8. Each piece PRESSED FLAT, then ROLLED UP TIGHTLY from the long side and the seam pinched.
11. Shaped to about 20 cm long and 3 to 4 cm wide, seam down on lined trays.
12. Proved 45 MINUTES, until visibly puffy.
13. A SHALLOW slash cut down the length of each.
14. Brushed with beaten egg.
15. Baked at 180°C for 18 to 20 MINUTES, to a PALE GOLD.
16. TESTED: the crust should be thin and soft enough to press with a thumb. A crisp crackling crust means the oven was too hot.
17. Soft for 2 days. Split and filled.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Egypt · All recipes