Was it sour or sweet?

Hi, sipagolda.

The breads I have had that were called "Russian Black Bread" have been very similar to Jewish Pumpernickel. There is a recipe for pumpernickel in Greenstein's "Secrets of a Jewish Baker" that is very good. He may have a different recipe for "Russian Black Bread." I can check when I get home.

There is also a recipe here on TFL for "Russian Rye" that I have made. It is very heavy and tasty, but different from Jewish Pumpernickel.

Here's a link to Greenstein's Pumpernickel:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/7999/rye-baking-day#comment-41871

And to the Russian Rye:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/7503/russian-rye&rdquo

Take a look and let me know if either of these looks like what you are after.

David

Wow! I remember the Modern Bakery. I remember Star, too.

We called this dark pumpernickel, often with a golden slurry crust, "Russian Pumpernickel." It was a wonderful bread and I have never been able to reproduce it here at home, although I confess that I have not attempted it in years, and I'd like to think my baking techniques have improved since then.

I remember all sorts of terrific baked goods from those Jewish bakeries - not just the fabulous breads - the rye, cornbread, Vienna, bulka, challah, but the cakes and pastries were great, too. Coffee cake, banana cake with chocolate frosting, 7-layer, kichel, sprinkle cookies - all delicious stuff.

Boron

There's a Modern Bakery on West Nine Mile in Oak Park.  It would not be surprising if it was the same - I grew up on the east side and a couple of the bakeries I remember from my childhood are still operating. Of course, back then I was more interested in the pastries and sweets than good bread.  ;-)

Jeffrey Hamelman has a recipe in "Bread" which he calls Black Bread.  The ingredients include medium rye (60%), high gluten flour (40%), old bread, ground coffee, oil, water, salt and yeast.    Don't know if it's similar to the bread you seek, but it sure is an interesting formula.

Did this bread have caraway seeds in it? Were the raisins dark or light?

No caraway seeds, although the the top had some cracked wheat on top, I think. And I'm sure about the type of raisins but the more I think about it they were probably light.

I grew up in the state of Washington so am not acquainted with your Modern Bakery but am very fond of Russian Black Bread.  My recipe is from a 1971 book called Cooking with Gourmet Grains that was put out by the Stone-Buhr Milling Company in Seattle Washington if you haven't found a recipe to your liking yet.

I just came back from a great two weeks in Chicago. Whilst there I visited the Russian tearooms downtown opposite the Art Institute. At lunch we were given the most amazing black bread - the colour of very dark chocolate. It was moist and tender and chewy - no caraway seeds, thank God! Back home in England none of my bread books have anything like it. Anyone out there have a recipe?

I grew up in the same neighborhood, back in the early 90s when there was a great influx of Jewish Russian immigrants to the area.  There used to be a decent Russian food store on the corner of Lincoln and Greenfield, next to the 7-11, but I don't know if that's still around.  It had passable russian bread, but it was baked in Ontario and shipped in.

Otherwise, I think the bread you are looking for is described in Andrew Whitley's Bread Matters book.  He has several recipes for 100% Russian rye breads made with a rye sourdough starter.  His basic Russian rye Bread has a very wet crumb, and a very authentic flavor I remember from Russia.  He also says that the very dark color of the bread comes from rye malt extract, which is hard to find here.  Very good book, highly recommended.

I don't know where you are now, but there is a bagel store in Los Angeles called The Bagel Factory that makes a bagel that matches your description, including the raisins.  It has bits of onion too.  Don't know if it helps, but you could see if they'll ship.

Marni

Contact Little European Bakery in Atlanta (404-255-8200).  I think they may have just what you are lookig for - and they ship.  They have many Russian customer who are regular consumers of their bread.