biga
noun [ C or U ] food & drink specialized uk/ˈbiː.ɡə/ us/ˈbiː.ɡə/
（意大利式）酵头，比加酵头
a thick mixture of flour, yeast (= a type of fungus that makes bread swell and become light), and water that is allowed to ferment (= go through a chemical change that causes it to produce bubbles) and then added to dough (= mixture) for making bread, especially Italian bread
This starter, called a biga, consists of yeast and flour and jump-starts the yeast activity in the bread. 这种被称为“比加”的意大利式酵头，由酵母和面粉混合而成，可以快速启动面包中酵母的活动。
Biga is a type of pre-fermentation used in Italian baking. “比加”是意大利烘焙中使用的一种预发酵方式。
- More examples
- The biga requires at least 12 hours to rise, and the bread dough must rise twice.
- Let the biga rise overnight at room temperature and then use it.
- Most yeasted pre-ferments fall into one of three categories: "poolish" or "pouliche", a loose-textured mixture composed of roughly equal amounts of flour and water; "biga", a stiff mixture with a higher proportion of flour; and "pâte fermentée", which is simply a portion of dough reserved from a previous batch.
- After mixing the ciabatta ingredients into the risen biga, the dough will be much stickier and more moist than other bread doughs.
- Where one baker uses a poolish starter, another uses a biga pre-ferment, and yet another uses neither.
- I am a decent bread baker and am accustomed to using starters such as bigas and poolishes which develop a wonderful tasting product.