Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Kowalski’s Occamy Bread

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Jacob Kowalski’s Occamy Bread Recipe

The Occamy is found in the Far East and India. A plumed, two-legged winged creature with a serpentine body, the Occamy may reach a length of fifteen feet. It feeds mainly on rats and birds, though has been known to carry off monkeys. The Occamy is aggressive to all who approach it, particularly in defence of its eggs, whose shells are made of the purest, softest silver.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Kowalski’s Occamy Bread

      While watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in theaters, I remember the audience laughing and gasping when the camera focused on the amazing bread animals/beasts Jacob Kowalski had created for his bakery.  Little did he know, he was drawing on his experiences from his adventures with Newt, Tina, and Queenie.  There were a few beasts Kowalski created out of bread like the Niffler and Demiguise but the one I created for today is the Occamy.  Behind the scenes, they said the beasts weren’t actually bread but it was synthetic.

From photos, it looked as if Jacob made the Occamy from pretzel dough but I knew I needed to use a different dough because it would have been quite difficult to form the beast after poaching the dough.  Instead, I used a decorative bread recipe I’ve posted before.  It’s much easier to handle and the dough will stay exactly how you want it to be.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Kowalski’s Occamy Bread

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Kowalski’s Occamy Bread

The images above are from the amazing new book, The Case of Beasts: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. If you’re a fan of the stories or the movie, I highly taking a look!

The Case of Beasts: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Kowalski's Occamy Bread

Feast of Starlight

A recipe for Jacob Kowalski's Occamy bread from the movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American, British

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup / 240g / 8oz - water
• 1/4 cup / 45g / 1.5oz - granulated sugar
• 2 - egg seperated
• 3/4 cup / 120g / 4oz - vegetable shortening
• 3 tbsp / 24g - milk powder
• 5 cup / 22oz / 624g - bread flour
• 6 g - salt

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 300F. Prepare a half sheet pan with silpat and set aside.
• Mix together the flour, salt, milk powder, and sugar.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the water, 1 egg, and shortening until combined. Switch the attachment to a dough hook.
• Add the dries slowly and mix on medium speed until it forms a ball of dough. Cover and let it rest for 20 minutes.
• To make the Occamy, grab a large ball of dough and roll it out to a thin rope.
• Take one end of the dough, and create a small circle, loop the dough to create a number 8. This will mimic the wings. Continue the dough in a zigzag motion of create the snake-like body of the Occamy.
• At this point, you should have about 3 inches of dough left. Cut the dough into four pieces to mimic the tail. If you can't get the shape quite right, just start again. The dough is very forgiving and it took me a few tries to get the shape just right. It also helps to follow the images above for some guidance.
• For the head, roll a piece of dough to about 4 inches long. Pinch the end to create the beak and attach into the first loop you created. Use a toothpick to help keep the head up during baking.
• Lightly whisk the last egg you have and brush the Occamy with the egg wash. Top with Maldon sea salt and bake for 1-2 hours until completely dry and golden.

Keyword Cornbread, Decorative, Fantasitc Beasts and Where to Find Them, Harry Potter, Occamy