The journey of making Danish rugbrod

It is the epitome of Danish cuisine: rugbrod, or rye bread. A tradition centuries old, this hearty, seedy, sourdough-based bread is a staple like a loaf of Wonderbread in an American home. While you may think that you have tried rye bread before, it is probably nothing like what I have been consuming daily for the past 7 months. Rye bread is not white bread with brown flecks of rye flour that you get in your diner breakfast or pastrami sandwich. Danish rye bread is dense, extremely moist, and so filling that you will not be hungry for hours, which of course was the original intention. There is nothing like Danish rye bread in the States, so obviously I had to learn how to make it before returning home in May.

My family generally buys their bread from the local bakery called Emmery's, a beautiful store selling endless breads, baked goods, and some specialty food items. It is more convenient, and after buying all the ingredients needed for a loaf of bread, economically speaking buying from the bakery can make more sense. However, many Danes still make their own bread every week, and many of them are my age. I have friends living at Kollegiums (essentially dorms for University students) who watch their Danish floormates bake breads constantly. Inspired by their need to always have fresh, homemade bread, I talked my host mother into teaching me how to bake my own.

Sourdough, the base of Danish rugbrod, is a fickle and tricky substance. I do not bake bread very often, but when I do, it is always a yeast based dough. Sourdough is much more complicated. It consists of a "starter culture", which is a culture of yeast and lactic acid bacteria. It is kept alive by adding it to flour and water. Every time a new loaf of bread is made, some of the dough is taken out and is used as the "starter" for the next loaf. As long as bread is made about once a week, the sourdough will stay indefinitely. Like a red wine, the sour dough only gets better with age, so it is not uncommon to see one that has been in a family for generations. The starter we used was my host mom's grandmother's! Now that is old!

Making rugbrod from scratch is a long, 2 day process. It is not necessarily difficult, it is just time consuming. Starting the night before, the starter is combined with flour, water, salt, and perhaps a few other flavors of choice, such as honey. In our recipe, we used mostly rye flour with a bit of wheat flour. After combining these ingredients, the bread is left to rise for at least 12 hours, or overnight.

The next day is a free-for-all in terms of ingredients. Besides the addition of whole rye kernels and water, nearly any grain, seed, or flavoring can be added based on personal preference. One time, my host mom and I added poppy and sunflower seeds. Another time, we decided to add extra flavoring with a porter beer and pure maple syrup. Adding something a little sugary is always nice to not only balance the fermented flavor of the sourdough, but to also help keep the yeast in the starter alive for the next loaf. The important thing to remember is to add enough water so that the dough is a thick, but moist paste. To put it plainly, it should look like cement. Once everything your heart desires is added, the bread is then kneaded, or with modern technology, kneaded in the stand-mixer, for the next half hour. The longer the bread is kneaded, the less dense it becomes.

danish is so funny - this is the bag for rye kernels

mixing everything together!

sour dough preserved for the next loaf!

rye kernels!

rye flour

When the kneading is completed, some of the dough is extracted, put in a jar, and heavily covered with salt to keep for the next batch of bread. The rest of the heavy dough is poured into pans, and pricked all over to invite air into the dense mixture. Then it has to proof (or rise again) in a turned off oven, for at least 4-5 hours. See what I mean about an all day process?

Of course every recipe is different, but my host mom likes to bake the breads for 1 1/2 hours at 175 C (about 375F) and then turn off the oven, and continue to bake the breads for an additional 45 minutes. Unlike yeast breads, rye bread should not be eaten straight out of the oven, as it is so moist on the inside it is difficult to slice. The best thing to do is to wait until the following morning to use for breakfast, sandwiches, or an afternoon snack (as all good Danes do). However, I have been known to cheat the waiting rule, as a luke-warm slice of rugbrod is absolutely delicious slathered with a particularly large pat of butter.

Because the starter dough is a sample of the the entire bread dough, that means that every loaf in every family or bakery tastes a little different. Even within a family, each loaf can taste different depending on what was added to the previous loaf of bread. Rugbrod is personal. Not only does it have a general history as a bread to fill your belly, but its taste also gives a little individual history to every family or individual that makes it. Your rugbrod tastes different from your neighbor's rugbrod because of the way your family before you baked it. If that is not passing down a recipe from one generation to the next, I do not know what is.

When I return to the States, my host mom has promised to send me home with a jar of her family's starter. I am so touched, I feel as though I will be receiving a family heirloom. I am glad that I can bring a little bit of my new family back with me across the Atlantic. Now the question remains - will I be able to bake and eat a large loaf of bread every week? If my fellow Smithies try some Danish rugbrod, I do not think it will be a problem!

a delicious sandwich the next day!

the finished product