
Rye is an alluring grain that nevertheless gets overlooked by its domineering cousin, wheat. Even other ancient grains such as spelt and durum have a higher profile. On Pender Island, it is easy to find these flours, but nary a bag of dark rye flour. Even Victoria suffers from this dearth.
And yet rye has been with us for thousands of years, found a toe hold in the European and immigrant cultures of North America. It is more popular in eastern parts of the continent, but on the west coast? Not as much.
Rye enthusiasts
There are some rye bread fans among customers of the Happy Monk Baking Company. And I couldn’t be more pleased. One or two of them are passionate about the grain and would prefer a rye choice each week. With most rye enthusiasts, their attachment to the grain comes from childhood, where it may have been the first bread they consumed. And they long for that taste, that texture, that transports them to another place, another time.
Take me back, take me way, way, way back, Van Morrison intones.
When you walked, in a green field, in a green meadow
Van Morrison, “Take Me Back”, from the album Hymns to the Silence.
Down an avenue of trees
On a golden summer
And the sky was blue
And you didn’t have no worries, you didn’t have no care
You were walking in a green field
In a meadow, through the buttercups, in the summertime
And you looked way out over, way out
Way out over the city and the water
And it feels so good, and it feels so good
Van’s not talking about rye bread, here. But he’s reaching for something almost inexpressible, an innocence. He’s chasing a state of mind that seems to exist somewhere in the past, but could also exist only in the imagination.
Rye is a grain that often evokes that idea of something from the past. A German friend tasted some bread I had made that had about 20 percent rye. She savoured the flavour with eyes closed, looked up and said, “Now that is real bread!”
The ‘unruly weed’
The green field Van Morrison describes could have been rye. It was once considered “an unruly weed,” something that grew in between the einkorn, millet or barley plants, choking off the main crops of the earliest grain farmers. And when the weather turned dry and cold, it was the rye plants that thrived.
It was that resiliency that made rye suitable for the mid- to northern European climate, where growing conditions were harsher and wetter than in the sun-baked fields of pre-historic Turkey, Egypt and the Fertile Crescent. It became a staple crop in areas that would become Germany, Poland, Russia and Scandinavia, where rye became central to the diet and culture.

Stanley Ginsberg’s The Rye Baker, is, to me, as much a paean to rye bread as it is a book of recipes. Published three years ago, it has done more to turn me into a rye enthusiast than any in my entire library of bread books. It’s his passion that makes the difference and his informed knowledge of rye’s historical roots. The Rye Baker details recipes from all the rye regions, the cooking techniques used, flavour profiles and ways the bread is served. It is a sweeping portrait of rye and a true celebration.
A difficult dough to work with
I’ve worked my way through many of the recipes of this book and have grown to love rye breads of all kinds. It is different than the bread I grew up with. Yet I love the deep, rustic flavour of rye that seems almost other worldly. My familial heritage is Scottish, where oatcakes and bannock strike a chord. I feel them in the bones. Rye was hardly consumed in my childhood, except on a few occasions when Aunty Betty produced a rye loaf made with anise seeds. My father hoarded it, as it was a bread his Scottish mother made.
When I first tried making a 100 percent rye loaf, it was a blow to my pride. The dough was difficult to work with. It did not come to life in the way a wheat dough did, which forms gluten networks through kneading, quickly becoming a unified mass. It did not rise like wheat; or at least in a less dramatic way. Rye dough was flaccid, gloppy, sticky. When baked, it was dense, unlike the pillowy lofty crumb, and thick shattery crust that I so loved in wheat bread.
Closer to home
Tasting the rye from Fry’s Red Wheat Bakery in Victoria was the first time I got that inexpressible sense from rye bread. The German Rye loaf was slightly bitter, musky, smoky, dense … and yet tender. It tasted strange to the Scottish part of me, but there was something I could connect with. An ‘old world’ of foreign smells and flavour.
The Flax and Sesame Rye loaf opened to something more accessible. The flax seed accented the 60 percent rye, but was counteracted by the lightness from the sesame seeds. The loaf still carried the same muskiness of the German.
It is the rye breads that distinguish Fry’s, I think, from the other bakeries in Victoria. The city has a trove of great baking that is as rich or more so than that of Vancouver. But it is Fry’s grasp of rye that makes the difference for me. And I am inspired to learn more, to find a rye loaf that is part of the Happy Monk canon of breads.
So I invite you, friends, to walk by my side as I experiment and search for the Happy Monk rye experience. I have little sense of where I am going on on this journey. But I’ll be looking somewhere … way, way, way back.
First attempt at Nina’s Pain Sauvage, wild bread. Borne of simplicity: coarsely milled grain (I used spelt), freshly milled red fife flour, water and salt. No yeast, wild or commercial. A few flax seeds sprinkled on top, baked in bread tins. Tastes of grain and earth. This is Nina Raginsky’s bread. She lives on Salt Spring Island BC in an old house that she calls her Maison Sauvage, and she tends her garden, her Jardin Sauvage. She prefers living with a small footprint; loves the aimless life, but is an Officer of the Order of Canada for her photography. Read the latest Happy Monk blog post for more about Nina. Thanks to Sophie Williams @ravenbreads for sharing about her conversations with Nina back in January — a meeting of like minds and hearts, I think. Today is Nina’s 80th birthday! Happy birthday, Nina!
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#bread #wildbread #painsauvage #baker #bakers #baking #bakinglife #ancientgrains #heritagegrains #yeastfree #nosourdough #tassajara #tassajarabreadbook #edwardespebrown #woodfired #woodfiredbread
Happy Monk Tidings - April 14, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Spelt + Honey Loaf; Plus the mighty Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: Nina's Pain Sauvage - [ See link in profile ]
Nice bake yesterday! The Salish Sourdough turned out great. So did the Fig and Fennel Loaf, but wish I’d added more fennel!
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#bread #sourdoughbread #sourdough #baker #bakery #breadporn #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbread #figbread #fig #fennel #figandfennelbread #breadlove #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #penderisland #southpenderisland
Happy Monk Tidings - April 7, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Fig and Fennel Loaf or Your Old Stand by: the Salish Sourdough; Happy Monk Blog: Is the Baguette on the Verge of Renaissance? - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 24, 2021 🍞 - Blog: The Milk Maid, Love and Bread Pudding; Bread this week: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Hot Cross Buns are out the door and we have a few extras. The deep spice, fruit and texture of these buns evoke faded memories for me. Maybe Aunty Betty made them? Maybe they’re the stuff of dreams?
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#hotcrossbuns #sourdough #sourdoughbread #baker #bakery #easter #easterbread #easterfood #woodfired #woodfiredoven #naturallyleavened #michaeljames #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Monk Tidings - March 17, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: One a Penny, Two a Penny! | Baker's Choice: Hot Cross Buns [ See link in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 10, 2021 🍞 - Bread this week: Your favourites: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: The Ocean Within Us [ See link in profile ]
Was windy down here this morning, but nothing like a winter storm! And look what what Mildrith made this morning just as the wind was kicking up! Polenta and Rosemary Loaf made with rosemary that grows wild on our property.
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#windyday #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaking #polentabread #rosemarybrushes #rosemarybrushes #bread #breadporn #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven
Happy Monk Tidings - March 5, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: Building Fences, Mending Walls; and Baker's Choice: Polenta and Rosemary Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
The mighty Seed Feast, Pender Island style, Happy Monk style. @chez_sjaan
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#seedfeastbread #seedbread #seedybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
The Seed Feast is pretty when it drops out of the banneton. Today I used a UFO bread lame #wiredmonkey to make it prettier. Nice control and it slices through those big pumpkin seeds!
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#wiredmonkey #ufolame #seedfeast #bread #breadmaking #breadbaking #sourdoughbread #sourdoughscoring #sourdough #woodfiredbread #woodfiredoven #bakery #bakeries #bakeriesofinstagram #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaker
Happy Monk Tidings - February 24, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: The Honest Baker; Bread choices this week: Salish Sourdough or Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - February 17, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice Week: Mountain Rye; Blog: A Hard-Earned Homecoming - [See link in Profile]
Saturday, Feb. 13. 2:45 am. Air temperature: -3°C (26.6°F). Mildrith, the wood fired oven, had an internal temp of 977°F (525°C). Balmy! Too hot to to bake bread, but she cooled quickly enough with the open doors, then baked 68 loaves! The problem was getting the orders out to customers, as the roads were unploughed with 8” of snow. Our all-wheel Subaru saved the day and customers got their bread! I tell ya!
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#cobovens #coboven #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #bakers #bakersofinstagram #bakersgonnabake #bakerylife #bakery #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #southpenderisland #penderisland #penderislandbc #penderislandlife #earthoven #earthovens
Half loaf of Happy Monk Salish Sourdough with @clarewilkening Herringware, beautiful “stacking tableware” by Clare Wilkening, whose ceramics are about “marine and terrestrial ecosystems” and homage to the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Salish People. The bowl was a brilliant Christmas gift from daughter Ella, a long-time friend of Clare’s.
Check out the Happy Monk being interviewed on (@madbaker)Mark Dyck’s Rise Up Podcast ... wherever you get your podcasts! Scintillating conversation for baking nerds and wood-fired oven enthusiasts!
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#baking #bakingpodcast #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #cobovens #breadbaking #breadmaker #bakery #bakinglife #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #penderisland #southpenderisland #penderislandbc #podcast
@earth.oven
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 16, 2020 - Happy Monk Blog: Time to Hang Up the Baker's Peel for 2020; Baker's Choice: Fruit Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
Instead of “figgy pudding,” I made some Figgy Bread! Fig and a hint of Fennel. Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as figgy pudding, but it tastes better! (Thus the red carpet threatment!)
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#figbread #figgybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Salish Country Loaves tumbling out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven this morning. There are a few extras, so if you’re interested, I’ll be at Medicine Beach until 2pm today (Friday, Dec. 11)!
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#woodfired #woodfiredoven #coboven #Mildrith #Mildriththeoven #woodfiredovenbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadporn #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 11, 2020 - Baker's Choice this week: Fig and Fennel Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: Praise the Rain! [ See link in profile ]
Volkornbrot casts a long shadow … getting bagged up for deliveries today. The aroma of 100% rye in the kitchen is otherworldly! I’m walking around in a trance.
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#volkornbrot #rye #ryebread #ryebreadlove #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
[…] Also see the earlier Happy Monk blog post: That Rye Flavour: Reaching for Something From The Past. […]