SC - Russian Black Bread

[Decker, Terry D.]

One of the questions I ask myself is, "Is Russian black bread period?"  What
references are there for it?  I have not yet found a reference to answer the
questions.

Since the bakers who prepared non-wheat loaves were commonly referred to as
"Brown Bakers," it is possible that the common color of rough loaves was
brown and that black bread is a fairly modern creation. 

For what you are attempting, try to find a coarse rye whole meal.  If you
can find something labeled as pumpernickel flour, you'll probably be as
close to the proper meal as you can get.

Molasses is period, but I would expect it to be rather expensive in Russia,
and probably not used in the bread of the time for that reason.

Bon Chance, and let me know how it goes.

Bear

> As I prepare to attack my kitchan in preperation for Elfsea Defender, I've
> been going through my messages looking for what we decided on how they
> made
> Russian black bread dark, other than the modern instant coffee, chocolate
> and molasses? I think the Molasses may be period, but I know the coffee
> and
> chocolate aren't. If I leave out the coffee and chocolate and increase the
> molasses a bit, would it taste right and look dark enough?
> 
> Anya
> 
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