Borodinsky bread

Borodinsky bread is a dark brown sourdough rye bread from Russia. It is sweetened with molasses and flavoured with coriander seeds, sometimes with caraway as well.

History

Its production was set down in the Soviet standard GOST 5309-50. The dough is built on a flour blend of at least 80 per cent whole rye, with some second-grade wheat flour and, occasionally, barley malt. The starter is made in a way close to choux pastry: flour is stirred into nearly boiling water and, once cooled, is mostly fed with portions of earlier dough instead of dried yeast. Beet molasses gives the loaf its colour and sweetness, while salt and spices complete the flavour.

Modern versions are often made from 100 per cent whole rye. A variety known as "supreme", combining whole rye with white rye flour, follows a recipe older than the standard and appears in a 1940 book devoted to 350 kinds of bread.

The modern recipe was not printed until 1933, in internal documents of a Moscow bakery. Still, late nineteenth-century baking literature contains similar recipes, usually flavoured with caraway rather than coriander.

Culture

In Russia it is an everyday bread, found on home tables and in bakeries, and its dark colour and gently sweet taste set it apart from wheat loaves. It is usually eaten in thin slices, often with butter, cured meats, herring or cheese, and it features in family breakfasts and light meals.

Its name refers to Borodino, the site of the 1812 battle, which ties it to the country's historical memory. Rye breads across Russia and neighbouring eastern European countries share much of this tradition, and Borodinsky has become one of the most recognisable examples abroad.