Excerpt
Italian bakers use a stiff preferment known as a biga in Italy. This recipe uses a poolish which uses an equal weight of flour and water making the hydration at 100%. This process of fermenting flour, water and a very small amount of yeast for an 8 to 10 hour period before incorporating it into the final dough develops the natural sweetness of the flour without the use of any refined sugar or sweetener in the final bread.