Russia: Rizhsky Khleb

 Russia spans over 6.5 million square miles. Due to it's sheer size, Russia's climate is pretty varied, ranging from humid subtropical to frozen tundra. Much of the country exists in colder climates that is not conducive to a super wide rang of crops. Maybe the caveat 'historically' needs to be added and modern agricultural technology allows for every manner of crop to be grown, on some level. 

Traditionally, rye wheat fares better in colder climates than other types of wheat, so it is not surprised that rye bread is celebrated in Russia. Any list of traditional Russian breads will likely have several varieties of rye bread listed.

Rizhsky Khleb is a type of rye bread made popular in the "Please to the Table: the Russian Cookbook", by Anya Von Bremzen. I tried to find more is a history on this specific bread, to no avail. There is a lot written on the popularity of rye bread in Russia. It is a grain that saw many a Russian family through harsh winters and they adopted a variety of ways of baking rye bread.

I used the King Arthur recipe, which came from the above mentioned cookbook.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/russian-rye-bread-rizhsky-khleb-recipe

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups (283g) lukewarm water (105°F to 115°F)
2 tablespoons (43g) barley malt syrup or dark honey
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 cup (156g) medium rye flour or pumpernickel flour
2 teaspoons (12g) salt
1 tablespoon (11g) caraway seeds
3 tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, melted
3 cups (361g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1. To make the dough manually, or with a mixer: Pour the warm water into a mixing bowl and add a teaspoon of the malt extract or honey. Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess.

2. Stir in the yeast and rye flour. Let this sponge work for at least 20 minutes, until it's expanded and bubbly.

3. Add the remaining barley malt extract or dark honey, the salt, caraway seeds, butter, and enough of the unbleached flour to create a dough that begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. At this point, cover the dough with a towel or plastic wrap, and let it stand for about 5 minutes.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured or lightly oiled work surface, and knead until it's smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Halfway through, give the dough a rest while you clean out and butter your mixing bowl.

5. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in the buttered bowl, turning to coat, and cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise for about 1 1/2 hours, or until it's not quite doubled in bulk.

6. To complete the bread: Punch the dough down, and divide it in half. Shape each half into an oval, place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about 30 minutes.

7. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

8. Bake the bread for about 45 minutes, or until the crust is dark brown, and the interior temperature of the loaves measures 190°F to 200°F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a wire rack.

9. Store, well-wrapped, on the counter for 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Note: the recipe linked above includes additional steps for bakers using a bread machine. I also could not find medium rye flour or malt barley syrup. Instead, I rolled the dice and used dark rye flour and molasses.

Result:

I was a little unsure how this would turn out as I have read that rye flour is difficult to work with. It turned out pretty good. I may have overproved the bread slightly, but just slightly. The flavor was wonderful: slightly sweet, hint of bitter from the caraway seeds, with an earthiness from the rye. I will be making this again.

Paraguay: Sopa Paraguaya

 Baking has not fit into my schedule lately. I have made the quick Italian loaf a few times, but two kids in multiple activities does not leave time to indulge in this little project of mine. 

I was determined to write a new entry this weekend and built it into my schedule. Truly, I am not sure if I like the physical baking of the research into traditional breads more. This week, Paraguay took center stage and the national dish just happens to be a bread dish. It is the perfect bread for learning some history and getting my hands dirty. 

The origin story of sopa paraguaya involves Don Carlos Antoni Lopez, the first president of Paraguay. Apparently, one of his cooks was preparing a soup that he liked and she added too much corn flour. The end result of this fortuitious mistake became so beloved it became the national dish.

There is another origin story. That the indigenous people in what is now Paraguay cooked a dish very similar to modern day sopa paraguaya, They adopted the cooking techniques of the colonizing Europeans and added new ingredients as they were introduced to the indigenous people. However, the base of dairy and corn with eggs, as a bread item, has roots that predate the arrival of the Europeans.

Whatever the true story is, this is a celebrated dish.

The recipe I used can be found here: https://www.internationalcuisine.com/sopa-paraguaya/

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups corn flour
• 2 cups Milk
• 4 Onions white, chopped finely
• 12 oz. Queso paraguay grated, or as an alternative use 9 oz. mozzarella and 3 oz. grated parmesan
• 4 Eggs
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 Tablespoon Vegetable oil

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 350 F.
2) In a skillet cook the onions until translucent, add salt and pepper
3) In a bowl, whisk the eggs until they become foamy.
4) In a separate bowl, add the corn flour, then the cooked onion and the milk, and mix.
5) Add the eggs and the cheese grated. Mix well.
6) Grease a baking dish with oil and pour the mixture in it.
7) Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the surface is golden brown. Poke the sopa paraguaya with a toothpick, it should come out clean.

8) Let cool and cut into individual pieces.

This was incredibly easy to make. I wound up having to leave it in the oven for a total of 50 minutes. It formed a large lump in the middle, but the taste/ texture was fine and it was evenly cooked through.

There was a split verdict on this. My husband and I both enjoyed the mild flavor and different texture. It was dense and not like the southern corn breads popular in the States. My daughter thought it was fine but didn't finish hers. My son did not like it. Though, in fairness, he is going through that 6 year old stage of wanting only familiar foods. I don't see myself making this again, but appreciate the stories history.

The next destination will have me saying хлеб. We are Russia bound.

Sudan: Kisra

Flat bread is a mainstay of food in many countries. One of the things that I have learned while writing this is just how important flat bread is to many cultures. It's popularity makes sense. It is easy to make, requires few ingredients and keeps well. 

Kisra is a flat bread commonly found in Sudan. It is consumed as a street food and as an acocmpaniment to a variety of stews and soups. It is not unheard of for kisra to be consumed at both lunch and dinner. There are two main forms of bread made from kisra batter. The first is kisra rhaheeefa, which is the thin flat bread I was going for. The second is kisra aseeda, which turns out more like a porridge when cooked. 

There are many different recipes for kisra. The basic dough is a flour mixed with water that is left to ferment. Sorghum and wheat flour can be used, but sorghum is the more common flour used in Sudan. Unfortunately, I was unable to find sorghum, so I went with a wheat flour recipe. The recipe I chose includes yogurt, which assist with the fermentation process.

The recipe I used can be found here: https://www.africanfood.recipes/2019/04/sudanese-kisra-kesra-bread.html

Ingredients
1 cup wheat flour
2-3 cups water
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sesame oil for greasing the crepe pan

Directions
Mix flour with 2-3 cups water into a thin consistency, similar to pancake mixture but slightly thinner.

Add yogurt and mix well. Leave covered for 3 days to ferment in the fridge.

Heat the pan and grease lightly with oil. Pour ¼ cup of the dough mixture onto the crepe pan and spread evenly using a crepe maker utensil into a thin sheet. Allow 1-2mins to cook one side then flip and cook another 1 minute.

My notes: I wound up using 2.5 cups water. During the fermentation process, the batter separates, so it will need to be remixed before cooking. Since I have never cooked a crepe before, I decided to make a few testers first and I am very glad I did. It took a few attempts to get the flat bread correct. 

So, the kisra had an unusual reception. The taste was enjoyed by everyone, but the texture got mixed reviews. The texture is...spongy, I guess would be the best description. I have made other flat breads and this was the first time I have encountered this texture, which I imagine has something to do with the fermenting. We made a sudanese stew to accompany the flat bread and the mix of the bread and stew was very good.

I can't see myself ever making this again, due to the texture, but it was fun and a completely unique bread.

Next stop: Paraguay

Nigeria: Agege Bread

December was busy. Not just because of the holidays; truthfully, work is what made it busy. While I had no time to bake for this blog, I did have time to think about it. I am happy that the first week back to baking puts in me in Nigeria. The main reason for starting this project was to learn new things about baking, to read about new techniques and interesting ingredients. To experience the tiniest food of a different culture. And not fancy food, not celebrated food; but bread, the most basic and humble food staple found in every corner of the world.

I will never make to Nigeria. Well, never day never, right? But the likelihood is incredible small that this NYer will ever find herself in Nigeria. When I first started looking at Nigerian breads, I found a decent variety to choose from. But, it was the common Agege Bread that caught my eye. It uses an ingredient I have never used in cooking and I was intrigued.

Agege Bread is beloved in Nigeria. It originated in Lagos, Nigeria and quickly became a favorite of Nigerians. It is so highly revered that a documentary was made to explore the origins and history of this bread. It is primarily used a sandwich bread and can be purchased commercially, but it is also commonly made at home.

Agege Bread uses vitamin C as an ingredient. I have never seen a recipe call for powdered vitamin c. According to bakerpedia.com, "It is used as wheat flour improver in yeast-leavened baked goods to help increase the volume of bread and provide better tolerance to variable processing conditions, such as dough temperatures and proofing times". Who knew?

The recipe I used was taken directly from here: https://aliyahsrecipesandtips.com/agege-bread-nigerian-agege-bread/. This recipe makes two loaves.

Ingredients

• 4 1/2-5 Cups Bread Flour/All- purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
• 2 1/4 Teaspoons Active Yeast (1 packet)
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1 1/2 Cup Whole milk
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)

Instructions

1. Proof yeast:  In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, sprinkle a little sugar over it, and set aside for about 5 minutes or until it foams. If you're using instant yeast you don't need to proof the yeast, just add to the flour directly.

2. Sift flour in a large bowl, add sugar, salt, and vitamin c and mix.

3. In a small bowl, melt butter beat egg into it, add milk and whisk together.

4. Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients; mix flour, yeast and egg mixture to make a soft dough. You can use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer for the process. Sprinkle more flour if you need to because the humidity in your kitchen will determine if you need to add more or less. Start adding flour from 4.5 cups of flour then add more as you continue.

5. If you're using a mixer after you've with dough mixing, transfer the dough onto a floured surface and knead until the dough smoothes and elastic. Or just mix until dough is stretchy and elastic; that's the key to making bread. As a matter of fact, if you don't use egg and milk and knead the dough very well you would get a very good end result.

6. Grease a bowl and place the dough in it. Cover and put in a warm place to rise until it doubled. About 1- 1.5 hours.

7. Grease the baking pan and set aside. Bring the dough out.

8. Deflate the dough and place on a floured surface knead the dough for about 5 minutes.

9. Cut into two and form each dough into a loaf shape and place in the greased baking pan.

10. Brush melted butter on the dough and cover with clean kitchen towel and place in a warm place to rise the second time for about 1 hour.

11. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F for about 10 - 15 minutes. Place the dough into the oven and bake for about 25 -30 minutes.

12. Bring the bread out and brush melted butter and keep warm. 

13. Enjoy.

My notes: I wound up cooking the bread for 36 minutes. Individual oven temperatures need to be considered.

 

This was a great dough. I mean, I say that often, but it was soothing to knead this and it took quite a bit of kneading to get that smooth elasticity. 

My family loved it. I served it alongside a chowder and the bowls were wiped clean with the bread. I imagine that this bread would make a delicious sandwich.

It was my husband's turn to spin the globe and my next stop is Sudan.

Samoa: Pani Popo

One of the reasons I wanted to start this project is because I love to travel. With two school elementary school aged children, my yearly travels consist of trips to Disney. However, before I had children, I got to explore several different countries and I look forward to getting back out into the world once my children get older. Until then, I can explore the world through food. Samoa is a country I will never get to visit unless we win the lotto or come into a substantial amount of money. 

When I looked up recipes for Samoan bread, I found one recipe, for Pani Popo, over and over. Further research showed me that breads are not such a staple in Samoan homes. Rather, the Samoan diet focuses on local tubers and coconut, along with pork and fish. 

Pani Popo is an enriched dough cooked in a sweet coconut sauce. In Samoan, pani means bread and popo means coconut. Pani Popo is usually eaten as an after meal sweet or as a breakfast item. However, it can also be used with savory food. One such usage is the pani popo being split and stuffed with pork as a sandwich. Now, I don't eat pork, but I can imagine the mix of sweet and salty in a sandwich would be delicious.

I decided to use the King Arthur recipe for Pani Popo. I have had luck with their recipes and I am a big fan of their flours. This is a link to the recipe I used: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/pani-popo-samoan-coconut-buns-recipe.

Ingredients


Sweet Yeast Dough
3 1/2 cups (418g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (28g) Baker's Special Dry Milk
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast or active dry yeast
3/4 cup (170g) lukewarm water
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (57g) butter, softened
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Coconut Sauce
1 cup (113g) coconut milk powder
1 1/4 cups (283g) water
1/2 cup (99g) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Mix and knead the dough ingredients together by hand, mixer, or bread machine set on the dough cycle until you've made a smooth dough. If you're kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 5 to 7 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. In a bread machine (or by hand), it should form a soft, smooth ball.

2.Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise, at room temperature, until it's nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Rising may take longer, especially if you've kneaded by hand. Give it enough time to become quite puffy.

3. While the dough is rising, grease a 9" x 13" pan.

4.Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface. Divide it into 12 pieces.

5.Shape each piece into a rough ball by pulling the dough into a very small knot at the bottom, then rolling it under the palm of your hand into a smooth ball.

6.Place the rolls in the pan, spacing them evenly; they won't touch one another. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set aside to rise, about 45 to 60 minutes. About halfway though the rise, preheat the oven to 350°F.

7.During the last 20 minutes of rising, prepare the coconut sauce. Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened slightly, about 5 to 7 minutes.

8.Pour the warm, thick sauce over the risen buns and bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 25 minutes, until the buns are golden brown on top and the internal temperature registers 190°F on an instant-read thermometer.

9.Serve the warm buns from the pan, scooping up the thick sauce with a spoon. The coconut milk will form a thin, chewy, intensely coconut skin on top of the buns. It's nearly as addicting as the crisp skin on a holiday turkey.

My notes: the dough was too sticky. I wound up adding more flour to achieve the desired consistency. I can never say this enough, get a baking scale and weigh your ingredients. I also wound up needing to cook them for a total of 27 minutes, but cooking time is all dependent on the oven. It came out as a batch bake and it was fine. Lastly, I could not find the baker's dry milk noted in the recipe, so I just used store brand non-fat milk powder.

The feedback from my tasters was 2/3 positive. My daughter loved it and wanted more of the coconut glaze. My son was not a fan. He decided he doesn't like coconut anymore, so that was a wrap for this bread. My husband enjoyed it and is looking forward to having it for breakfast tomorrow.

Next stop: Nigeria.

Algeria: M'semmen

When I decided to bake the breads of each country, I knew there would be overlaps. Some traditional breads are traditional to an entire region, not a specific country. Algeria turned out to be a country with several traditional breads that are native to North African countries, which includes Algeria.

M'semmen is the Arabic name for one of the many types of flatbreads traditional to the Maghreb region of Africa. Maghreb consists of: Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, and Mauritania. I am finding that there is rarely one recipe for a traditional bread. Rather, one bread can have many subtle variations as you move from baker to baker, town to town, and century to century. In it's basic form, m'semmen is a spiced and oiled flatbread that can be cooked on a skillet. 

A quick google search produced several different recipes,  so I went with a basic recipe that used ingredients I had on hand. The recipe below can be found here: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/algerian-flatbread-241505

INGREDIENTS

3 cups finely ground whole-wheat flour (preferably Indian atta or King Arthur whole-wheat)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric

PREPARATION
Make dough:
1) Stir together flour, salt, and 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Slowly stir in water until a soft dough forms. If necessary, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes.
2) Form dough into a ball and coat with 2 tablespoons oil in a bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough stand at warm room temperature 1 hour.
3) Stir together cumin, paprika, turmeric, and remaining 1/4 cup oil in a small bowl.

Form flatbreads:
4) Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and, keeping remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap, flatten 1 piece of dough into a disk. Roll out disk as thinly as possible (into a 9-inch round) on a lightly floured surface with a 6-inch wooden dowel or a rolling pin. Spread 1 teaspoon spiced oil on dough with your fingertips, then roll up tightly into a long cylinder and coil into a tight spiral. Transfer to a large sheet of parchment paper, then loosely cover with plastic wrap.
Make 11 more spirals in same manner.

Finish and cook flatbreads:
5) Tape another sheet of parchment to a work surface and on it roll out 1 spiral of dough into a round approximately 6 inches in diameter. Heat a dry large cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium heat until hot, then cook flatbread, turning once, until puffed and browned in spots, 3 to 4 minutes total. Transfer to a plate and cover with a kitchen towel. Roll out and cook 11 more flatbreads, stacking them on plate.

This was such a satisfying dough. It was soft and elastic and this was my favorite bread to knead so far. I used ceramic frying pan to cook these as I do not own a skillet. I used level 4 heat on my burner and had not problems with cooking them. I also did not let it rest for an hour. I would estimate that the dough rested 30 minutes before rolling it out.

This was another crowd pleaser. My husband ate 3 pieces with dinner and found the m'semmen useful for scooping up the chickpea curry that we had for dinner. My 6 year old son followed suit and declared that this was another thumb's up. My daughter was not quite as enthusiastic, stating that it was not her favorite bread, but I did notice she ate one and a half pieces during dinner.

Next stop: Samoa

Mexico: Concha

 I consider myself lucky. I live in an area that is ethnically diverse and a person does not have to travel very far to find almost any type of food one could desire. The town I work in has a very large Mexican and El Salvadorian population and I love browsing the cases in the local bakeries. Concha always caught my eye, as it is such a pretty and unique baked good, but it was not until a few months ago that I tried one and enjoyed eating it.

Concha, which means shell in Spanish, have been ubiquitous in Mexican bakeries for a long time. When the European settlers came in the colonial era, they brought with them enriched breads such as brioche. Mexican bakers adapted these enriched recipes and put their own spin on them, creating a sweet loaf with the hallmark shell streusel design on top.

In recent years, social media has elevated the status of concha and bakers have tried a variety of ways of making the concha unique to varying degrees of success. They are served in high end restaurants and are no longer only found in Mexican bakeries, though I imagine the concha found in those bakeries are probably tastier than the mass produced variety.

I used the recipe found here: https://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/concha-recipe/. This is also the website that I used for the pan de muerto and there are so many other recipes to explore there.

INGREDIENTS:

RECIPE FOR 16 CONCHAS
500 grams (3-¾ cups) of All-Purpose Flour, plus extra for dusting
125 grams (½ cup + 2 Tbsp) white Sugar
7.5 grams ( 2- ½ tsp) Instant Dry Yeast
3 grams (½ tsp) Salt
100 grams ( ½ cup) Non-Salted Butter, at room temperature
100 ml Eggs* (use a measuring cup, it equals about 6-½ Tbps )
5 ml (1 tsp) Vanilla extract*
120 ml (½ cup) Milk (warm).

TOPPING:
100 grams (½ cup plus 1 tsp) Vegetable Shortening (extra to grease the dough and baking sheets)
100 grams ( ⅞ of a cup) Confectioner Sugar
120 grams (1 cup) All-Purpose Flour
5 grams ( 2-½ tsp) Cocoa powder (for half of the topping, if desired)
2.5 grams ( 1 tsp) Cinnamon (optional for the white topping)


1)Have each ingredient ready and measured (by weight) before starting, and thoroughly read the notes above. Mix the all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer at medium speed, just to mix it well.


2)   Add the butter and mix well (using the stand mixer with the hook attachment), then mix in the eggs and vanilla extract and slowly pour the milk in little by little until the dough looks cohesive (you may need less or more milk, as some flours soak up more liquid than others). Keep beating the mixture for about 7 minutes at medium speed. Add a little more flour around the inside of the bowl (2-3 tablespoons), just enough for the dough to separate from the container. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky. Your dough should feel very soft and elastic.

3). Place the dough on your floured working table and knead it just enough to shape it into a ball.
Place this ball in a large greased bowl to rest. Cover it with a plastic wrap (or wax paper) and a kitchen napkin. Let the dough rest in a warm place for about 2 hours until it doubles in size. 

Making the Concha toppings

4) While the dough is rising, you can prepare the sugar topping. Soften the shortening with your spatula until it is very creamy, and then add the confectioner’s sugar. Finally, add in the flour little by little (if using, add the ground cinnamon in this step). Set this paste aside to use later. If you’re making half of the Conchas with the chocolate topping, then divide the paste in two and add the cocoa powder to one half, mixing it until it integrates very well.

5) Once the dough has risen and doubled in size, place it onto a floured surface and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Divide the dough into 16 small balls (60 grams each). To shape the balls, lightly flour your hands and place each small ball on the working surface and gently press down with your hand, rotating your hand to form the balls.

6) Place them onto greased baking sheets and continue until you’ve finished shaping all of the dough.
Using your hands, grease the top of each ball with a little shortening. Do not skip this step, as it will help the topping adhere to the dough.

7) To add the topping, flour your hands and divide the topping paste into 16 balls. Use your hands to press down on each one to form a small, flat circle (I like to use a sheet of plastic, like when making tortillas). Place this disk onto the ball of dough, and press it down very firmly.

8) Once you’ve finished placing the topping on the buns, use a concha cutter or a knife to decorate them with the traditional concha shape.

9) Allow the conchas to rise in a warm place until they are almost double in size. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this step could take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. Do not leave them to rise any longer, because if you let them grow too much they will collapse inside the oven. Bake in a preheated oven at 325º degrees for 20 minutes, or until the bottom of the conchas are lightly golden. If you are placing more than one baking sheet in your oven, rotate them after 10-12 minutes. Move the sheet on the bottom rack to the top rack and vice versa to have an even baking.

My notes: the author of the recipe linked above offers some great tips. I cannot emphasize enough measuring your ingredients by weight. A baker's scale is not expensive and can make a huge difference.

They looked alright. I chose to do a cinnamon streusel and was not expecting it to be this brown. I think that I did not flatten out the ball of streusel to the right depth.

That said, this was a hit. It was sweet enough to be a dessert item, but just. This will make a wonderful breakfast. My husband already said he is taking 3 for breakfast tomorrow and my children gobbled them down. This was fun to make. The dough was soft and easy to work and the streusel design can be done easily (though, not perfectly) with a butter knife.

This was the last recipe for Mexico and my children are going to alternate picking the next country whose breads I bake. We are spinning our globe and whatever country my child's finger is on is up next. 

Our next stop...Algeria.