
The tender crumb was brown tinged with gray; the rich brown crust was shiny, almost leathery, but tender. The aroma was dark and grainy, both lactic, like fresh cheese, and tangy, like subtle vinegar, with a hint of dark pipe tobacco. The finish was intense and the pungent acidity on the tongue was slow to dissipate, a bit unnerving, like the very first sip of some unfamiliar dark beer that makes you want to give it another try. I was in Germany not long ago for the first time, and this was a prime encounter with good German rye bread.
James MacGuire, “Real Rye Bread,” in The Art of Eating, August 2017
This haunting description of German rye bread was written not long ago by the legendary Canadian baker and author, James MacGuire 1 He was trying to describe his first taste of real German rye. The words have stayed with me and have guided me ever since in my quest for good rye bread.
Skill and attention to detail
I’ve made a few 100 percent rye loaves for the Happy Monk Baking Company. None have achieved the character of the bread MacGuire describes. Properly made, this bread requires skill and attention to detail, which is rarely seen in the “new world,” this side of the Atlantic.
We know little or nothing of rye bread in North America. We think of it primarily as something served in a Jewish deli with corned beef or hot pastrami — little more than flat white bread.
Some believe that “pumpernickel” is the real stuff, but, in fact, it often contains more whole wheat flour than rye. Store-bought pumpernickel also has flavouring ingredients made to mimic real rye and usually has no sourdough at all.
And many North Americans believe that caraway seeds, often ground to a powder and added to rye bread, are what rye tastes like! It’s a delicious flavouring element, granted. Still, it has nothing to do with rye’s taste, which has an earthy, sour flavour. 2
Rustic loaves, but no rye bread
Several years ago, I discovered a new bakery near Vancouver’s Olympic Village. It was a modest space with a relaxed vibe and inviting feel to it. The shelves were loaded with rustic loaves, dark in colour, and beautifully scored. There were a purple barley loaf and a light porridge bread, the sight of which made my mouth water.
These were beautiful artisan loaves made with exotic heritage and ancient grains — a sure-fire formula for success in today’s artisan-obsessed bread market.
This was a full-service, sit-down bakery, with a fine selection of pastries and cookies as well as the bread. The proprietors seemed to take pride in the coffee they made, and you could sit a while at one of the counters and enjoy the warmth of the place against the grey drizzle of a Vancouver autumn day.
I struck up a conversation with one of the bakers.
“Do you make a rye bread?” I asked.
“It’s kind of boring to make.”
“Not really,” he said. “Not much of a market for rye bread. It’s kind of boring to make. Not the same challenge. There’s no relationship with the dough, for the baker, when you make rye bread. Not like the relationship the baker has with a good wheat loaf.”
Goodness! I was unprepared for an answer like that. I’m an unabashed rye enthusiast with a healthy respect for the grain and the challenges of baking with it. But this young baker was unimpressed. Or uninformed. And off he went to his fancy spiral mixers and deck ovens, unconvinced by my sputtering objections.
And I sat there, speechless, trying to make arguments in my mind about why he was wrong about rye.
Rye is a different beast, and it doesn’t behave at all like wheat bread. Unlike wheat dough, which softens and swells (“erotically,” it may as well be said) over a proof, rye dough feels and acts like muck when you mix it up.
A satisfying flavour, aroma and texture
But it does rise in a fashion and develops a delicate airiness of its own. It’s otherwise dense and heavy and does not seem to respond to the baker’s ministrations the way wheat does. But rye does result in a profoundly satisfying flavour, aroma, and texture when it comes out of the oven.
Had this fellow in the fancy Vancouver bakery not heard of the Detmolder Method of rye bread production? A three-stage procedure that takes several days to cultivate the perfect level of sourness and acidity for the bread. Or the use of different levels of flour extraction in the rye grain?
The accomplished American baker, Jeffrey Hamelman, called the Detmolder method “a fascinating and highly effective technique that represents the highest expression of the baker’s skill.” 3
“The highest expression of the baker’s skill”
Well, I’ve tried baking rye bread using Detmolder, and I felt humiliated, chastened. The method requires strict attention to mixing and proofing temperatures and pH measurements for acidity. My first and only attempt amounted to a 48-hour waste of time! The bread was awful!
Humiliated, but unbowed! The experience left me wanting more. I wanted to see how the dough behaved over the hours it took to make, how the crust developed a spider web of cracks, how the bread, out of the oven, smelled “dark and grainy … like fresh cheese … and subtle vinegar, with a hint of dark pipe tobacco.”
Someday, I hope to master the technique, which Hamelman says is “unlike anything else in bread production.” And I crave, at the ripe old age of 65 years, a bread mentor like Jeffrey Hamelman, someone who can instruct and guide me into a successful and fulfilling relationship with rye bread.
And then, maybe I can take a loaf of pungent Volkornbrot or Roggenmischteig back to that Vancouver bakery and present it to the young whipper-snapper who thinks there’s nothing much interesting about rye bread!
Also see the earlier Happy Monk blog post: That Rye Flavour: Reaching for Something From The Past.
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
See you in the morning, Mildrith!
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#woodfiredovens #woodfiredbread #woodfired #sourdoughbread #baker #bakersofinstagram #bakersoven #woodfiredovenlove #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #southpenderisland #penderisland #penderislandbc
Happy Monk Tidings - Bread 🍞 and Blog 💻 - Baker's Choice: Volkornbrot - German Rye; Happy Monk Blog: The Good People of Pender - [ See link in profile ]
Making this Olive Loaf is almost as delicious as eating it. Marinated Kalamata and Haldiki with zested lemons and spices.
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#wildyeast #michaeljamesbakes #tivolirdbakery #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Baker's Choice: Olive Loaf and Happy Monk Blog: The Joys of Firewood - [ See link in Profile ]
Breadcrumbs
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#innomine #sourdough #sourdoughbread #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #bread #breadcrumbs
Bread love 🍞 ❤️ 🍞
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#countrybread #countryloaf #salishsourdough #sourdough #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #bread #breadlove #breadlabcollective #bbga #breadstagram #breadsofinstagram #artisanbread #baker #bakery #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #southerngulfislands
Intense little Seed loaf!
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#seedbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #bread #breadlove #breadlabcollective #breadstagram #breadsofinstagram #artisanbread #baker #bakery #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #southerngulfislands
Sprouted Kamut bread tasted fruity, like banana, and of course grassy and sweet. And the loaves have that haunted face look! Halloween was two weeks ago!
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#kamut #kamutbread #khorasan #khorasanbread #bread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #breadlove #breadloaf #scarybread #halloweenbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbreadoven #woofiredbread #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaking #baker #bakery #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #penderislandbc #sproutedgrains #sproutedbread #sproutedkamut #sproutedkamutbread
Happy Monk Tidings 🍞 - This Week's Baker's Choice: Sprouted Kamut Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: To Autumn - [ See link in Profile ]
A hint of brotgewürz, bread spice. A mix of caraway, anise, fennel and coriander lifts this seedy Mountain Rye into a different realm.
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#brotgewürz #mountainrye #wholerye #ryebread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Baker's Choice: Mountain Rye; Happy Monk Blog: Entangled Lives and the Election - [ See link in profile ]
Cinnamon-Raisin Loaves are St. Francis’ favourite, you can tell. He moves along the wall and stands behind the trays fresh out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven. There, he can inhale the intoxicating perfume of warm spice and warm his stone-cold feet. And dream of what these loaves could taste like, if he could only taste.
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#breadhead #breadlove #sourdough #sourdoughbread #cinnamonraisin #cinnamonraisinbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Tidings from the Happy Monk 🍞 - Baker's Choice: A Warming Cinnamon Raisin Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: The Isle of Apples ... [ See Link in Profile ]
1. Spelt and Hunny on their first date. 2. Alejandro and Sandra like each other too much. 3. Happy, well-adjusted Spelt-Honey loaves.
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#spelt #speltbread #honeybread #breadhead #breadporn #breadlove #wildyeast #michaeljamesbakes #tivolirdbakery #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
MacGuire is a co-author of one of the most influential books about bread, The Taste of Bread. The primary author was Raymond Calvel a French professor of culinary arts.↩
Or see James MacGuire’s description above.↩
See Jeffrey Hamelman, Bread. A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes, 2nd Edition, 2013, p. 216.↩