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Anyone out there know of a good source?
I’m in Manuel Antonio, none here, or at Auto Mercado in Jaco.
Thanks!i always use either Macarina or Pruductos de Mama — it’s just plain flour and it produces great italian bread. what is bread flour anyway? do you use a sourdough starter or a poolish? either of those methods produces a great bread. some stores also sell a generic flour in a plain plastic bag — i’ve used that too and it’s been fine.
Bread flour is a high-gluten flour that has very small amounts of malted barley flour and vitamin C or potassium bromate added. The barley flour helps the yeast work, and the other additive increases the elasticity of the gluten and its ability to retain gas as the dough rises and bakes. Bread flour is called for in many bread and pizza crust recipes where you want the loftiness or chewiness that the extra gluten provides. It is especially useful as a component in rye, barley and other mixed-grain breads, where the added lift of the bread flour is necessary to boost the other grains.
All-purpose flour is made from a blend of high- and low-gluten wheats, and has a bit less protein than bread flour — 11% or 12% vs. 13% or 14%. You can always substitute all-purpose flour for bread flour, although your results may not be as glorious as you had hoped. There are many recipes, however, where the use of bread flour in place of all-purpose will produce a tough, chewy, disappointing result. Cakes, for instance, are often made with all-purpose flour, but would not be nearly as good made with bread flour.
There are so many wonderful Italian breads in Costa Rica, even in Montezuma, that someone is doing something right.
Bread machines often calls for ‘bread flour’. But you will have to get used to using what is actually available….and learn to substitute as many of have already done.
italian breads typically have a sourdough or biga base. i used high gluten or full power flour when i had an italian bread shop, but down here i use the basic flour and always start with a poolish, or if i have more time, a 4 day old sourdough starter, and my breads are as good as anything i ever bought or made in the States. at the macro in san ramon i found some lovely stone-ground whole wheat flour sin bromato potassio.
Does anyone order bread flour and spices through Amazon.com or any other US company for delivery in Costa Rica?
I don’t know about flour but I have carried and my friends there regularly bring in various food stuffs that they cannot readily find in CR in their luggage.
We’ve “imported” without question:
20 Mule Team Borax (5 lb boxes for welding flux).
Protien powder for smoothies.
Breakfast Cereals (some are hard to find in CR).
Favorite soap and hair products.
And many other sundries. . .This is different than shipped packages going through customs. I think customs at the airport are only looking for serious contraband. I worry more about US customs but have never had a problem. Just be sure such things are well packed and do not leak.
Any time we visit CR we ask “What can we bring?”
We always bring some type of gift, books, tools, embroidered towels. . . This leaves us space to bring back crafts, coffee and such for our friends at home.But I would learn to just use common wheat flour. “Bread Flour” is a relatively new consumer item and not mentioned in the vast majority of (older) cook books.
My friend in Naranjo used to being in flour when she flew in.
Twice a friend has sent dog treats in a parcel by mail, and the first time we had a ‘warning’ from customs in Caldera. Second time, there was no way the vet who was brought in to check them out, would allow us to take them with us, because they were made in China…..
Main problem there was no Spanish ingredient list, which would be the same for flour.
We received a week later, a letter from the vet explaining that these may be bad for our dogs…
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