Making Rye Bread by Jessica Prince, Dahlia Lounge
Last year my brother married a Finnish woman. And so, my mother, aunt, and I embarked upon our great Finnish Hajj, to the holy land I had heard of in countless tales since teething upon smoked fish and Astorian melba toast, to the mysterious land of wolverines, aurora borealis, the true home of Santa Claus, land of melancholy tangos, fierce determination, and many, many vowels. Did I mention that my family is from Finland?
The former French president has famously derided the cuisine of my homeland, and I must admit to having possessed a healthy skepticism myself. This lasted only until within two hours of landing at the airport, as I dug into my first reinder spaghetti, in a cream sauce flavored with juniper berries and topped with a cheerful cascade of lingonberries. So, so weird and so, so delicious.
It was there, in Helsinki for nary a week, that I developed an utterly unexpected love of rye bread. It came on strong and I ate all that I could, packing my suitcase with a precious lode to be rationed from my freezer for months after returning to the land of wheat and corn.
I now find myself searching bakeries, disappointedly, trying to regain a fraction of that fleeting pleasure. As every spurned lover knows, denial fans the hottest passions….
My sister-in-law insists that Finnish rye must be made from a sour starter and must contain only rye flour. One can’t just ‘whip up’ a starter so I seeded one for next week and made a quick sponge starter that was ready in a mere six hours. I made flat breads like the ones I loved in Finland which were sliced, toasted, and buttered to accompany just about everything. I chickened out and added about one third wheat flour, fearful of accidentally making hocky pucks and losing my nerve forever. They turned out delcious, though I’m looking forward to trying again next week when my sour dough is ready, using a darker rye flour and cutting out the wheat for a totally authentic experience.
Here’s a photo of some real, Finnish rye bread. (photo top)
And my American rye. (photo bottom)
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April 15th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Do please sell Finnish rye bread at Dahlia Bakery! (I live on Bainbridge and stop by whenever I’m in Seattle). It was the bread I grew up on. Best, Susan
April 15th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
You make it sound so good I can almost taste it. Do you have a recipe you’d like to share or recommend? Although I’d love to stop by the Dahlia bakery often (should they decide to make Finnish Rye bread and also because my daughter works there), it’s a bit out of my way since I live in West Virginia. By the by, Dahlia Bakery makes the very, very best macaroons I have ever eaten.
Thank you for sharing a lovely story.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Well, apparently I have struck a nerve! How wonderful!! I am about to embark on Rye Bread Adventures Part II and will keep you posted. I’ve been working from a recipe from Daniel Leader’s absolutely incredible book (which I received as a gift when I was a teenager and have been exploring ever since), “Bread Alone,” though I have, as I mentioned, played fast and loose with the flour proportions so far.
We had a customer from Sweden stop by the Dahlia today and provide this hot tip. Apparently you can get really good rye bread on Fridays at a deli on 9th and Madison called George’s. I’m on my way…
April 20th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Come visit and make rye bread with me, Jess. Your sister-in-law and brother need to benefit from this experiment