Madeiran Sweet Potato Flatbread: Bolo do Caco

Madeira is a group of four islands in the Atlantic Ocean about 325 miles west of Morocco and about 675 miles from mainland Portugal. The four islands are: "Madeira" and "Porto Santo," both of which are inhabited, and also "Desertas" and "Selvagens," which are uninhabited. Madeira is a constituent part of the Portuguese Republic, commonly simply referred to as "Portugal." Madeira is most famous for its wine with the well thought out and original name "Madeira," a favorite of mine; the wine, I mean, but the name's nice too.

 

This flatbread is not typically made very thin; and in fact, it is able to be cut open into two distinct pieces of bread. They, therefore, can be used, and are also used, to make sandwiches.  

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 packet yeast

1 pinch sugar

3/4 to 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups lukewarm (NOT HOT) water (hot water will kill the yeast)

oil for cooking (small amount for each flatbread)

Wash the sweet potato, then prick the skin with a fork or knife a few times. Microwave (or bake in an oven) until tender; then let cool a bit, cut the potato open and scoop out the flesh and mash it well. It is best to rub your hands with some vegetable oil or olive oil before handling the dough, then mix the mashed sweet potato and all other ingredients together to form a dough; it will be sticky, so that's not abnormal. Remember too, the dough's color will be influenced by the color of the sweet potato you use. Cover the bowl and let the dough sit for 45 minutes to an hour to rise. Then divide the dough into balls of a size that when you flatten them, they will fit into the skillet you will use. Pat the dough balls into rounds about 1 inch thick, like a thick pizza crust ("Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake baker's man, bake me a cake as fast as you can, pat it, pat it and mark it with a 'B' and put it in the oven for baby and me." Wow, I haven't heard that for a while; at least 3 or 4 years.). Put the patted out rounds onto a plate and cover with a dish towel or paper towel; let them sit in a warm place for about 30 to 40 minutes. Put a small amount of oil (I use olive oil) into the skillet (I've used both a cast iron skillet and a nonstick skillet to make these), over medium heat. Regarding the oil, the thing is, you don't want the bread to be greasy when done, but you also don't want it to stick to the skillet. Once it is in the skillet for a brief period of time, it will begin to form a crust; and thus, it will be far less likely to stick. The same thing will happen when you flip the flatbread over. I flip the bread over 2 or 3 times, and it's okay if the two sides have dark spots form on them; that is typically how they are served. I've seen some people describe the Bolo do Caco as being similar to the texture of English muffins, and that's a pretty good comparison; crusty chewy outside, soft airy inside.      

Serve with garlic butter (1 softened stick of butter, 1/2 teaspoon freshly minced garlic, 1 heaping teaspoon finely chopped chives) 

 

 

Spread with garlic butter ...

WORD HISTORY:

Prey (Predation/Predator)-"Prey" is a word that was originally a contracted base word with a prefix. The main body of the original word is related to "apprehend" and "comprehend," both Latin-derived words borrowed by English from Latin, and to "prison," a Latin-based word borrowed by English from French. The first part of "prey" goes back to Indo European "per," which meant "before, in front, forward," and this gave Latin "prae," meaning "before," which was used as a prefix to form words. The second and main part of "prey" goes back to Indo European "ghed" meaning "to seize, to take, to hold," and together this and the prefix gave Latin the noun "praeda," meaning "that which is taken in war;" thus, "plunder, booty, spoils," and also, "animals that are hunted, game that is hunted," with this meaning also coming to be used for "animals hunted by other animals," and the Latin form passed into Old French as "preie." This was borrowed by English in the mid 1200s, with the French spelling, and the use also was extended to "a weak or helpless person." The "plunder, spoils" meaning didn't really remain in common usage in English to the present, and is archaic. The verb developed circa 1300 from the noun, but also with influence from French "preer" (to pillage, to ravage), which traces back to the Latin verb "praedari," meaning, "to seize or take by force, to rob, to pillage." Predation, not a terribly common word nowadays, but it is still around, and likewise, it goes back to Latin "praedari" (to seize or take by force, to rob, to pillage), and the derived Latin noun form "praedatio," meaning "the act of pillaging, plundering" with its accusative form, "praedationem," providing the basis of the English noun "predation" (initially as "predacioun?") also meaning "the act of pillaging, plundering," later taking the meanings from the noun "prey," as the "pillaging" meaning began to fade. Predator; that is, an animal or species involved in "predation, the act of certain animals to hunt and kill other animals," with that meaning then being used for "humans who take advantage of the weaknesses of other humans or animals," and later also applied to humans who "exploit age or weakness to gain sex from someone" (sex/sexual predator). This word is from Latin "praedator," which meant "plunderer, pillager," and it was borrowed from Latin in the second half of the 1500s.