Kasseler / Kassler
Hello,
A friend of mine has mentioned to me several times a bread he used to get hold of when he lived in Germany. It was called, to the best of his memory, Kasseler. He tells me it was a brown bloomer bread with a soft fluffy interior and a very crusty crust.
He originally told me about it when one of my sourdoughs with a rye starter reminded him of it a bit.
I've finally started searching for it to see what I can find.
I couldn't find much.
This one called Kassler (so almost the same spelling) https://homemadegermanbread.blogspot.com/2013/11/kassler-bread.html [1] has a mix of sourdough starter and yeast poolish with a bit more yeast to the main mix.
This one spelling it Kasseler https://feedwise.wordpress.com/2015/07/11/kasseler-grey-bread-fifty-shades-of-german-bread/ [2] has no sourdough at all.
Then from this very forum https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/66574/eric%E2%80%99s-rye-bread [3] which again is a mix of sourdough and yeast loaf.
There is a link to Wikipedia in the second article. Google Translate gives me this:
Kassel bread, often called Kasseler for short, is a mild, light mixed wheat bread from Kassel, which is now also widespread in other regions, especially in the Rhineland.
It consists of about two-thirds wheat flour and one-third rye flour, sourdough and yeast and is only seasoned with salt. The final fermentation time of the dough in a woven bread basket gives the loaves an oval shape with slight, circumferential grooves, which are still faintly visible even after baking.
Kassel bread has a fine crumb and a rather light, soft crust. If stored properly, it will keep for about three to five days.
That's all I can find out about it.
The mix of sourdough and yeasted aspects and the rye and wheat seems akin to the "with sourdough" that many of the supermarkets now sell.
I've no idea how long Kassel bread has been a thing. When did it start in Kassel, I wonder?
I'm intrigued by the mix of sourdough and yeast. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me more and if anyone can tell me which of the above recipes is closest to the sort of bread that my friend would have had (I plan to bake him some as he's mentioned it quite a lot over the last few years).
Thanks.