Instructions: This bread is very easy to make, in that it requires little work and no kneading at all. The finished bread is extremely heavy, very dark brown, and keeps well for about a week at room temperature. Its not very sour, but has a "dense" flavour that compliments good cheese superbly. We eat it with all kinds of toppings, and rugbroed is the only appropriate bread to have with pickled herrings or pate or coldcut meats in this country. Rugbroed is very similar to German Schwarzbrot (not pumpernickel), also a pure rye flour.

Making rugbroed is quite different from making any other kind of bread. You cant rely on your intuitions about texture or baking times. Ive tried to make careful notes during my own baking process to assist first-time rugbroed bakers, but you should be prepared to attempt this a couple of times before giving up. The "difficult" element is getting the baking time and - temperature right, and no two ovens are the same. (After moving to a new apartment this sum- mer, I had to make rugbroed 4 times before I got it "right" again, simply because I had switched from an electric oven to a gas oven.)

If you havent already got a sourdough starter, you need to allocate a week or so from you start till you are actually eating rugbroed. With a starter on hand it will take three days. (But I think its worth it.)

Note: Im including metric measures. I know they dont correspond exactly to the American units, but if you follow all the metric units consistently, the proportions will be correct.

Im unsure about some of the ingredients. If you cant find malt beer, use any dark beer (NOT Budweiser) or even just water and some malt powder. When I say "cracked rye" I mean rye kernels that are not whole, but chopped up into about 3-4 pieces on average. You could use whole rye kernels/berries, but then you must allow for at least 8 hours rising time before baking (to soften the kernels). "Rye flour" in the recipe is a rather coarsely ground 100% rye flour - with little bits of grain clearly visible in it. "Graham flour" is 100 % wheat with the texture of corn meal; its probably called something else in other countries. You could omit it and just use rye flour in its place. The same goes for the cracked wheat (wheat grains chopped coarsely) - replace with cracked rye. But I must say that the presence of a little wheat considerably improves the flavour of the bread.

recipe for one 2-quart size loaf

Sourdough starter:
1 cup buttermilk (2 1/2 dl)

1/2 cup rye flour (1 1/4 dl)

1/2 tsp salt

Mix buttermilk, rye flour and salt in a bowl, leave to stand uncovered on the counter. (The amounts are approximate - the mixture should be quite fluid. Add more buttermilk or water if the starter thickens too much.) You can also use a good plain yoghurt instead of buttermilk, but add some water if you do.

Stir the starter with a spoon at least once a day. Keep it loosely covered with paper or foil from the second day. Dont refrigerate.

From the second or third day, you should see little air bubbles forming in the starter, and it will pro- bably have a more grayish colour than it did at first. It should begin to smell slightly sour, but the smell disappears upon stirring.

Usually the starter takes about 5 days to make. Its ready when it has swollen somewhat in volume and the air bubbles are plentiful after resting for 6 hours or so. The quality of the starter is not terribly crucial; rugbroed doesnt (and shouldnt) rise very much during baking.

If mold forms on the starter just scrape it off. Its not of a dangerous kind. (So sayeth Fro, our all-purpose reference cookbook and my bread cookbook.)

If you dont plan to use the starter immediately, cover it tightly and refrigerate. It will keep for several weeks.

Making the sponge:
sourdough starter (all of it, min. 1/2 cup) (1 - 2 dl)

3 cups lukewarm water (7.5 dl)

3/4 cup packed "graham flour" = coarse wheat flour (125 gr.)

3/4 cup packed all purpose flour (125 gr.)

1/2 cup flax seeds (75 gr.)

1/2 cup plain raw sunflower seeds (75 gr.)

1 cup cracked rye grains (175 gr.)

1 1/4 cup cracked wheat grains (200 gr.)

2 tsp. kosher or sea salt (if tablesalt, use less) (2 tsp)

Note: when making this a second time, omit salt, since it has already been sprinkled on your starter.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, cover with wet towel, and let stand at warm room temperature until next day. (At least 12 hours, but up to 36 hours is fine. Sourness increases with standing, but wont be very predominant in the final result anyway.) Dampen towel when dry to prevent moisture loss from the sponge - which could affect the final result.

(The sponge is very thin and liquid when just mixed, but will quickly become quite thick from the grains absorbing liquid.)

Making the dough:
1 cup malt beer (or water + 1 tbsp. malt powder) (2.5 dl)

1 tbsp. packed brown sugar (or dark syrup) (15 ml.)

1 tsp. ground caraway seeds (optional) (5 ml.)

3 cups cracked rye grains (500 gr.)

Stir all ingredients together with the starter and pour into a greased loaf pan that will hold 2 quarts (2 liters). If you think youd like to make this bread again, save 1 cup of dough to use as a starter next time. Put this in a jar, sprinkle with 2 tsp. coarse salt, cover tightly and refrigerate. The dough should be wet and just barely liquid, like a very thick porridge.

Let the bread rise in the loaf pan, covered with a damp towel, for at least 3 hours, or even the whole day, at room temperature. (Warmer if you take the shorter rising time.)

The bread wont rise very much, perhaps only an inch or so.

Paint the top of the bread with melted butter or cold water. Put it in a cold oven and set the temperature at 390 F (200 C).

From the time the oven is warm, the baking time is about 90 minutes. If the top looks like its blackening, cover with tin foil.

Its very difficult to tell when the bread is done. Take it out of the loaf pan and give it a knock on the bottom with your fist. If it doesnt resonate hollowly, it certainly isnt done. If it sounds hollow, insert a bamboo skewer into the middle. If the tip comes out clean, its _probably_ done. The crust should feel quite hard. If in doubt, leave the bread in the oven as the oven cools.

Dont attempt to slice the bread for at least 10 hours after baking. Its actually best 2 or 3 days old.

Place the bread on a rack and cover with a towel (unless you are leaving it in the oven). Leave it till next day.

Slice rugbroed very thinly (1/4th inch, 0.5 - 0.75 cm) and serve with butter and/or cheese.

If you have problems:
If the bread seems very wet inside upon slicing, try putting it back in the oven to be warmed through at a fairly low temperature. I think about 1/2 hour at 100 C / 210 F would be appropriate. Even a perfectly baked loaf will be a little sticky the day after its baked, but it improves over another day or two. If the crust stays extremely hard on the second day, try lowering the oven tem- perature a little and extending baking time the next time you attempt. Much depends on the shape of your loaf pan (wide & flat or short & tall make a world of difference) and on the actual moistness of the dough. I can only recommend that you make careful notes about what you are doing so you know what to adjust a second or third time.

If you like the _taste_ of the bread, but not its crust or wetness the first time, please try making it again. It really is a learning process. and if you happen to _really_ like this recipe, I think it would be fun if you sent my aunt a postcard. She has no idea what Internet is, but does understand English. (She doesnt even know Ive published her recipe here.) Her address is:

Fro Galskov
Praestemosevej 24
DK-3480 Fredensborg
Denmark

NOTES : The virtues of rugbroed are many. The taste & texture are wonderful. Its cheap and simple to make (although you must allow for some trial & error). Its extremely healthy - very low fat, very fibrous, and very good for your digestive system. Its the one thing I missed the most when I lived in the States for a year and didnt have an oven. Delicious! What more can I say? Except that Im biased, of course.

The following recipe was given to me by my aunt Fro. Its a "modern" version of the ancient staple food of Denmark: Rugbroed (=Ryebread). Traditionally, rugbroed was made only from sourdough, rye flour and water, and the process involved a lot of hard work with kneading. My grandmother still makes rugbroed that way, and the results are delicious, but very different from the recipe below.

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