April 12, 2011

Our Daily Bread

Today's project: Pumpernickel!

What on earth is pumpernickel bread? It's a German bread with a dark crumb, ostensibly from the Westphalia region of Germany. The recipe above is kin to the North American version, which uses coloring agents to recreate the dark bread of the original. In this case it uses molasses and cocoa powder. I've seen another, more complicated recipe which also includes instant espresso powder, which I'd bet adds a ton of bite. I didn't have any, so we'll just have to do without. We'll see.

Posted by Linkmeister at April 12, 2011 12:47 PM | TrackBack
Comments

I've always thought of pumpernickel as a sort of punishment bread, the bread that would be eaten by prisoners and starving peasants. (The phrase "black bread and water" is somewhere in my memories.) I remember eating it and finding it miserably salty. I seem to remember trying it more recently and finding it more palatable. I wonder if the more recent version was the molasses/cocoa version?

Posted by: Harold at April 12, 2011 02:46 PM

Could have been. It's good with deli meats and sauerkraut. I picked up some deli ham and provolone cheese to go with lettuce, tomato and mustard for a sandwich dinner tonight.

Posted by: Linkmeister at April 12, 2011 02:59 PM