Vollkornbrot and Schadenfreude
In Portland (the Downeast one) the unbeatable Number One Bakery is, without question, the Standard Baking Co. Their baguettes and pains au levains not only make droves of bakery customers happy but also guests of the wonderful "Street & Company" and the noble "Fore Street Restaurant".
Today they offered Vollkornbrot. Of course I had to get one, out of curiosity, though Vollkornbrot is not my favorite - being force-fed with it as a child - to compare it with my own products. It looked quite nice, and had the right consistency, too. But, as with all the Vollkornbrot I've so far tasted in New England, the taste was bland and lacked any complex flavor. Even without any additional sweetener German dark rye breads (Vollkornbrot, Schwarzbrot and Pumpernickel) should have a hint of sweetness from rye starch turning into sugar due to pre-doughs and long fermentation (mehrstufige Teigfuehrung).
On one hand I was disappointed and a bit sad that my favorite bakery didn't do a better job introducing their customers to this German specialty, but on the other hand I felt a nasty little bit of Schadenfreude. Their crusty, holey baguettes might be way superior to my modest pains a l'anciennes - but my Vollkornbrot could beat theirs anytime!
Dear Dana Street, for this immoral impulse I will shamefully atone - next time we're in Portland we will not only spend our dollars at "Street & Company" (wolfing down as much pain au levain with our fish as we can) but also by buying not only two baguettes AND a large miche, but also a bag of rugelachs.
Comments
Hanseta,
Could you post a recipe or two of these robust ryes? I have been looking for some new recipes in that genre to try.
Still trying to recreate my childhood Swedish Rye and when I got the closest to the flavour a couple of weeks ago, I got impatient and I underproofed it because I was using a sourdough starter for the sponge.
Andrea
Hi, Andrea,
My absolute favorite robust rye recipe is "Rheinisches Schwarzbrot":
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17764/rheinisches-schwarzbrot-rhineland-rye
Another favorite mulitgrain rye bread is "Friesisches Schwarzbrot":
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18037/friesisches-schwarzbrot-friesian-rye
I bake regularly the Vollkornbrot from Peter Reinhart's "Whole Grain Breads", though I tweaked it somewhat, using less yeast and less molasses, and I also found that different baking times worked better for a thinner crust. (If you want to try it out, I can give you the recipe with my adjustments).
I also bake the Swedish Limpa Rye from the "Whole Grain Breads", again with some adjustments (less sweet).
If you are interested in a typical German everyday (mixed rye/wheat) bread, I can post my "German Feinbrot" recipe, a 100% sourdough I developed myself - after a very long period of trial and error. This bread is my family's absolute favorite that we have nearly every week.
Karin
Thanks so much for the links to the recipes! I will enjoy trying them out. My Grandma's bread wasn't limpa as much a molasses or combo of dark sugar beet syrup with rye and white flour. Her own recipes was revised or lost and although I have facsimilies, I do not have hers. Mine have been too mealy and not dense enough and certainly not rich and sweet enough. Now I am interested in the rye scalded ahead of time process as you suggested. andrea
I thought "Limpa" meant a special type of bread. But when I asked my Swedish speaking Finnish friend about it she said "limpa" means only "round". With that information from then onI took care to shape my limpa rye breads as boules...
Have fun baking and let me know how your breads turned out.
Karin