2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14
Most people don't know much about Finnish cuisine: it's not famous for its fluffy croissants, fragrant sausages, or rich borscht. Ask someone you know about national Finnish dishes, and the answer is likely to be confused silence. And yet one of the products, beloved in this northern country, is well known not only abroad. This is Finnish national rye bread.
Bread is the head of everything
Without exaggeration, we can say that bread is present on the table of any civilization in the world. In France, they eat a crispy tender baguette, in Italy - ciabatta, in America - bagels, in Turkey - pita. Despite the fact that the shape and composition of bread from different countries may differ dramatically, it still remains one of the most important components of nutrition.
Finland is very sensitive to their traditions. Due to the climate, wheat cultivation has been here for a long time.it was difficult. Therefore, rye bread, unlike other countries of the world, was not only on the tables of the poor, but also at the luxurious feasts of the rich.
Modern technologies make it possible to grow any amount of all kinds of cereals, however, like many centuries ago, the Finns prefer their traditional rye bread with yeast or sourdough. The first has a more airy structure, crumbles less, the second is denser, knocked down, seeds and nuts are often added to it.
Buns, crispbread, loaves
Despite the processes of globalization and industrialization, the Finnish bread market is still dominated by small bakeries: bakeries can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and even supermarkets prefer to buy their products from private bakers.
But the number of tiny bakeries tends to infinity. The Finns themselves stock up on bakery products exclusively in the neighborhood: in the morning they take large bags of buns, in the afternoon they have a snack on rye cakes or bread, and for dinner they buy a large loaf for the whole family.
Such bakeries are not just shops. Here you will be served, as they say, with soul: in the morning, the baker or his deputy personally meets each client, does not fail to exchange a few words, and even knows regular visitors by name. Many establishments serve breakfast or offer hot coffee.
The pride of any housewife
Despite the availability of bread and the opportunity to buy it at any second in a shop around the corner, every Finnishthe hostess carefully keeps the recipe for bread dough, and sometimes the sourdough, passed down to her from her grandparents. On holidays, the aromas of fresh pastries waft from every house here.
However, it is not at all necessary only on holidays: after all, sourdough is an extremely delicate substance, and the best way to preserve it is to use it. Previously, every Finnish house had two ovens: one for heating, and the second for baking bread. It was difficult and expensive to heat it, and therefore they baked a lot at once. The traditional form of Finnish bread is not at all the loaves or loaves we are used to. The rye cake from this country is round, flat, with a large hole in the middle. It's called Reykäleipä. This was done so that finished products could be easily stored suspended from the ceiling.
Modern housewives do not have to hang bread garlands all over the house, moreover, they no longer have any need to heat stoves: all this has been successfully replaced by modern bread makers and ovens. However, the tradition is strong and the most delicious breads in Finland can be tasted by rare traditional bakers. They are said to have a very special taste.
Sourdough against yeast
Today there are endless debates about the dangers of yeast. Adherents of this theory argue that the fungus, getting into the human intestine, begins to multiply exponentially there and, thus, acidify the body, "steal" useful substances and disrupt the natural balance of microflora.
Their opponentsare of the opinion that bread yeast is killed at high temperatures, and therefore cannot cause serious harm in the finished product. None of the theories are still scientifically proven.
National flatbreads, those that the Finns have been eating for centuries, were baked without the use of yeast, because it had to be stored for a long time. The sourdough of the family was protected, and the knowledge of how to bake bread from rye flour was passed down from generation to generation. Today, ancient recipes are kept only in the families of hereditary bakers.
Easy recipe for the perfect sourdough
Before you look for a recipe for bread dough, you should take care of the raw materials from which it will be baked. This primarily applies to sourdough: after all, not every housewife has a familiar Finn who is ready to share a "live" mixture of flour and water, and therefore you will have to cook it yourself.
Growing rye sourdough is much easier than wheat sourdough: it is not so capricious and even beginners can do it. Don't be discouraged, even if it doesn't work out the first time: keep feeding your brainchild, and if not on the fourth, then on the seventh day, it will definitely work.
In a glass jar, mix the same amount of flour and water. Do not take large volumes: such a sourdough will require a lot of top dressing, and this is not at all necessary for us. However, too little can make the growing process almost endless.
The ideal proportion is 30 g of flour to 30 g of water. Leave the future starter for a day at room temperature. And the next dayFeed her again with the same amount of water and flour. Continue like this for 3-4 days, then discard half and feed again.
On the 5-7th day, bubbles will appear in the sourdough and it will begin to increase in size faster. When it increases 3-4 times in 4-5 hours, it will be possible to bake bread.
Simple dough bun
The recipe for Finnish bread varies greatly from region to region and from house to house. Somewhere they use a mixture of whole wheat flour with rye, and somewhere - exclusively rye. The addition of seeds is also optional: during the first tests, it is advisable to refuse them, because they make the already non-airy dough heavier, which can lead to the roll falling off and a raw middle.
Start experimenting only when you are sure of the quality of your starter.
So, how to bake rye bread from flour, water and s alt? It's amazing that such a fragrant and delicious baked product includes so few ingredients.
Prepare the starter, set aside 50 g in a separate jar, feed and leave on the table for a day before baking. Leftovers can be safely stored in the refrigerator. Take 250 g of flour and 375 g of water, add to the sourdough and mix thoroughly: this is the basis for future dough. She should stay in a warm place. If everything is done correctly, then by morning you will find a bubbling mass that has increased in volume.
Add 250g more flour and 10g s alt. Mix thoroughly until a smooth homogeneous mass is obtained. You should not be too zealous: we have a dough made from rye flour, not wheat, gluten init is not, and therefore you can forget about gluten.
Drip a little vegetable oil into a large bowl, distribute evenly, form a kind of cone from the dough, cover with foil and leave the future Finnish bread to ferment for 2 hours.
After that, knead the dough again, sprinkle with flour, place in molds and send to a warm place for proofing for 1-2 hours. Constantly monitor the condition of your future bread: if the bun has already risen well (2-3 times), then it can be sent for baking.
Heat the oven to 250 degrees, turn down to 230, place the mold with the dough there, cover it with an iron bowl and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake the bread for another half hour. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Ripening
Perhaps one of the most important points in the recipe for rye sourdough bread in the oven is the ripening stage. Many people know that fresh pastries are unhe althy and have a very negative effect on the he alth of the liver and gallbladder.
But yesterday's is no danger. However, in the case of rye bread, ripening will help not only to reveal the taste and aroma, but also finally stabilize the state of all ingredients.
Freshly baked bread tends to get crumpled if cut too soon. In the case of Finnish rolls, you can not only spoil the structure by premature cutting, but also find a moist center. Due to the nature of the dough, Finnish bread should be kept in a cool, dry place for at least 12 hours.
Giant Finnish bagel
Reykäleipia is somewhat reminiscent of American bagels: the same flatbread with a hole in the middle, only huge, like ordinary bread and made from rye flour. These are eaten generously with butter, salmon or bacon and washed down with milk.
For baking, take 50 g of sourdough, feed it in the morning and leave it overnight in a warm place. In the morning, add 200 g of rye flour (or a mixture of rye and whole grains in any proportion), 10 g of s alt and knead into a smooth pliable dough.
Shape a round bun and make a small hole in it. Gently twist the future bread on your finger so that the hole enlarges and becomes smoother. Send it for 40-50 minutes for proofing. And then bake in an oven preheated to 250 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Let the bread ripen for 12-15 hours and you are ready to serve.
Even tastier, even he althier
However, as in most European countries, the assortment of a Finnish bakery is not limited to two types of bread. An ordinary rye loaf can and should be made even tastier and he althier: just add nuts, seeds, bran or even oatmeal to it.
Here are the top useful ingredients that you can pour into the dough without a twinge of conscience and without harm to the figure:
- Sunflower seeds will enrich the final product with he althy oils, vitamins A, B, C and D, as well as zinc, magnesium and iron.
- Pumpkin seeds will lower blood sugar levels, get rid of parasites and help restore youth.
- Poppy will improve sleep and improvedigestion.
- Olives have antioxidant properties, increase hemoglobin levels and give bread a savory Mediterranean flavor.
- Flax seeds or chia seeds are good for digestive problems.
- Sesame improves the functioning of the nervous system.
- Spice herbs and other condiments.
Add it right
Inexperienced bakers often face the problem that bread according to the usual recipe, when various seeds are added, suddenly sags, remains raw, or vice versa quickly becomes stale and comes out dry. How to deal with it?
The main problem for novice housewives is that they do not know some of the secrets used by experienced dough mixers. Firstly, any seeds should be soaked in room temperature water with s alt for 1-2 hours before adding them to future bread. Secondly, all additives should be added before the main batch: this will make it easier to adjust the amount of water or flour needed to get the right consistency.
The last point does not apply to dried fruits and large nuts like walnuts: these should be put in last, otherwise they will lose their structure and ruin the final product.
Breadbasket against cellophane
And now a little about how to store the finished bread. Birch bark and wooden bread bins are best suited for this: they provide optimal air flow, keeping baked goods from drying out and mold. You can put an apple slice or a small piece of sugar there: this way your bread will live for a few moredays longer.
If there is no bread box at home, use paper bags or linen napkins. Cellophane bags are the worst for storing homemade bread: they do not allow air to pass through, contributing to moisture condensation and the appearance of mold and the growth of harmful microbes.
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