HOME MADE BLACK BREAD - VIDEO

Today I wanted to show you one of the easiest home made bread recipes ever. This rye bread (rupjmaize, rudzu maize) always has been a staple of Latvian diet. Traditionally, Latvians ate whatever was available during the season – cereals, legumes and root vegetables, meat and dairy. It is hard to make rye bread without specific ingredients, so this is the only recipe that worked and tasted just as amazing. This recipe makes one large loaf, but you can also make smaller ones if you wish. It takes time to make this recipe, but mainly due to waiting times of the dough being risen. The bread is crusty and soft inside, without proper storage I recommend you eat it within two days.

Rye and barley was available all year round thus becoming the most important source of subsistence (wheat was considered to be a delicacy). It was believed that while there was rye bread on the table, no one would go hungry. Good bread was the pride and joy of every hostess and no effort was spared when baking the bread.

Rye has been grown in Latvia for more than 1200 years, and rye bread became common more than a thousand years ago. Similarly to Scandinavian and Slavic traditions, rye bread was baked from leavened dough and it was considered to more nutritious and tastier than barley bread. In late 19th century sourdough bread gained popularity, but it was mainly baked for celebrations as it was more time consuming.

Ingredients
375 gr wholemeal rye flour
300 ml kefir ( you can also use buttermilk)
40 ml apple juice
2 tbs sugar
1/2 tbs salt
Instant yeast 7 gr
caraway seeds (optional)