Last year I had the pleasure to collaborate, shaping and baking with The Loaf in Box San Sebastian. The loaf on which we worked is known as Extreme. Since then, I have tried several times to reproduce it in my New York City kitchen, pursuing it using whole grain flour and the associated higher hydration method.

On those previous attempts, I used flour came from Community Grains, and milled my own wheat berries, sifting the wheat once, and did 80 percent whole grain to mimic high extraction flour. I incorporated some feedback from Eli Colvin, (“Wetter dude!” is his mantra), who is the unofficial leader of the many hydro gurus these days that push the envelope on every fold and drop of water absorbed. Let’s just say I had trouble mastering the higher hydration and whole grain approach.

So last night I went back to the original “Extreme” parameters I used, again running out of a bit of water and using a different levain. I substituted some of the white flour with Durum, from an Indian store bought atta flour. Here’s how it came out.