This bread is common throughout Franconia, Bavaria, Austria and South Tyrol (Italy). The very strong rye taste paired with the delicate blend of potent spices gives this bread a wonderful strong and powerful aroma.
Traditionally, bread consisted only of flour and water. When people had access to spices they put it in their bread and called the spice-mixture "Brotgewürz" which translates to "bread seasoning" or "bread spices". Some sources claim, that people have been doing this since the Middle Ages, to "cover up" the smell and taste of old bread. The most readily available spices back then were caraway seeds.
People in different regions used different spices. In the 1930s, scientists conducted a study on the usage of "Brotgewürz" throughout Germany. In south-west Germany they traditionally used caraway seeds, while the east primarily used dill and anise. The south of Germany, including Austria and South Tyrol used a mixture of anise, fennel, coriander and allspice.
Below is a map that shows which spices are used where. This map is from Zeit.de, while the underlying data is from a book called "Alltags- und Festspeisen in Mitteleuropa" (Everyday and festive dishes in Central Europe) by Günter Wiegelmann.
Today, the most common mixture used in Franconia, Bavaria, and Austria consists of
- Anise (Aniseed, sweet cumin, pimpinella anisum)
- Caraway (caraway seeds, carum carvi)
- Fennel (foeniculum vulgare)
- Coriander (coriandrum sativum)
Usually, these spices will be used whole and dried. You may briefly toast them in a pan and/or crush them in a mortar and pestle, so they can give off even more flavour. Some say that these spices make the bread more digestible. Aniseed is said to stimulate the glands in the gastrointestinal tract. Caraway is increasing the appetite, supports digestion and is antispasmodic. Fennel on the other hand has a calming effect on the gastrointestinal tract and coriander stimulates the appetite, aids digestion and is also antispasmodic.
Feel free to leave out spices you don't like or swap them out. For example if you can't find Anise (pimpinella anisum) you may also use Star Anise (Illicium verum). Other spices you can try: Mace (reddish seed covering of the nutmeg seed), celery seeds, cumin, cardamom, dill, blue fenugreek.
You may think, due to the powerful spices, this bread is only used for savoury meals with meat and cheese, however, people also spread jams such as rose hip jam, berry jam or honey on their bread.
- 450 grams of strong rye flour or full-grain rye flour.
- 50 grams of strong wheat flour or full-grain wheat flour.
- 1 tablespoon of anise
- 1 tablespoon of caraway
- 1 tablespoon of fennel
- 1 tablespoon of coriander
The amount of spices may be adjusted to your liking. For a lighter flavour only use 1 teaspoon, an even stronger taste can be achieved by using 2 tablespoons per spice.
Add the spice mixture to the flour right at the beginning, so the essential oils can infuse into the dough.
