I went to Arezmendi in the morning on the 25th of March. There I met Edhi. Edhi brought the idea of doing a croissant at Arezmendi, but to use the dough they use for everything. The difference between their dough and any other croissant is that it is sourdough. As opposed to baking as if I were at home, I got to see the production side of it behind in the bakery. Everything was in much more abundance. More sheets of dough, more flour, and of course way more croissants. There croissants were not in a crescent shape, the croissant was more of a straight line. While I was there I saw how the made plain, chocolate, and almond.
I knew the technique of croissant dough, but they informed me that it is called a process of lamination.
Lamination: Lamination is term for the process of alternating layers of dough and butter when making pastry. The dough is wrapped around butter (so that the butter is completely enclosed in dough and cannot slip out), the “package” is rolled out, folded over to double the number of layers, and then the whole thing is repeated. Each time the dough is folded, it is called a “turn.” The more turns your laminated dough has, the more flaky your finished pastry will be. Laminated dough's include puff pastry, croissant dough and danish dough. (http://bakingbites.com/2010/01/what-is-laminated-dough/)
I had a great time seeing "behind the scenes" of a great bakery and getting to know the bakers aspirations and connections to baking.
