Finn Crisp, Knaakkebrod, Nakkileipa (Scandinavian CrispBread

[Brewer Pete]

Rye crispbread is still an essential part of the family diet in Finland.

Soft, round, flat loaves with a hole in the middle, which in the old days were stored on horizontal poles under the ceiling in farmhouses, are made from rye by a fermentation process.

The thin rye crispbread often known as Finn Crisp has a slightly sour taste, also the result of lactic fermentation, and is a successful export item. Finns gorged on wholegrain bread long before health foods became a fad. Barley, wholemeal and oat breads, rolls, flat breads and cracked wheat breads all have their local variations. The range of different types of bread just seems to grow, with new shapes and seasonings being developed all the time.

The specialities of southwestern Finland and the archipelago are the sour-sweet loaf and malt bread. Island-baked bread is dark in colour, and its northern counterpart may also have blood as an ingredient.

Internationalisation has naturally increased the consumption of wheat flour products, such as baguettes, but Finns continue to believe that rye and wholegrain bread is what 'keeps a man healthy, wealthy and wise'. Freshly baked bread with butter, cheese, ham or luncheon meat is an everyday Finnish delicacy. Today, sandwich making is easy, as shops sell rye bread ready sliced or rye rolls ready halved.

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Now has anyone made Rye Crisp Breads/Crackers before to know the lacto fermentation step technique?

I have recipes that are modern that don't have the sour lacto step which is a shame. Would be nice to make the real thing!

Ingredients:
10 g active dry yeast
235 ml warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
135 g rye flour
165 g all-purpose flour
6 g salt
35 g rye meal (pumpernickel flour)

Directions:
Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a small bowl. Set aside.
Combine the rye flour with all-purpose flour in a large bowl. Stir in the salt. Mix in the yeast mixture to make a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a board floured with rye meal. Knead lightly, mixing in rye meal as needed. Shape dough into a fat roll, and cut into 12 sections. Roll each section into a ball; cover balls with a towel and let rise 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

On a floured board, roll out each ball into a flat round about 4 inches in diameter. Place rounds on prepared baking sheets and prick with a fork.

Bake in preheated oven until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a rack.

[Dragonfluff]

Hi Pete,

Nice to know traditional scandinavian bread is appreciated in other parts of the world. I'm Swedish and my fiance is Finnish. As we're studying in Australia we tend to make both finnish sourdough ryes and knäckebröd (pronounce the ä like the e in heck and ö like the i in sir) at home to stave off withdrawal.

The trick to making the sourdough is using good-quality wholegrain rye flour without mixing in any wheat (although it may be useful when you want to shape it). The reason the bread is black is due to a combination of wholegrain rye and the use of a molasses-like syrup with a high proportion of malt.

If you make it without yeast, mix a large amount of the starter (use 30% starter as a minimum - I know people who use as much as 80% starter) with flour and water, possibly a little oil and salt. Make certain that the starter has a high proportion of lactobacilli rather than yeast by ensuring that it smells distinctly sour, rather than yeasty. Let it mature over 24-36 hours or so in a cool place (not the refrigerator).

I've added a rough translation of a Knäckebröd recipe from my book Fantasymat (Fantasy food). It will give you an idea of the proportion. Replace the yeast and baking powder with a good starter culture and use 100% wholegrain rye, rather than the sifted rye.

btw. the bread with blood that you are talking about is called paltbröd in swedish. It is a crisp wheat flatbread that you traditionally eat as is or quickly dipped in boiling water and served with bacon and lingonberries.

Knäckebröd (20-25 breads)
1 packet yeast (12g dry or 25g fresh)
1 teaspoon baking
2 tablespoons freshly ground anniseed, fennel or cumin
5dl water (unchlorinated, Scandinavian tapwater is virtually chlorine-free)
14dl sifted rye flour (or 7dl wheat and 7dl rye flour)

Mix all the ingredients and allow the dough to rise for a few hours, preferably overnight. Divide it up into 20-25 parts that are rolled out into thin rounds the size of a plate (or to your own preference). The dough should not be too firm as this will make the breads very hard. Make a hole in the breads if they are to be hung somewhere and bake at 225-250 degrees Celsius (437-482 Farenheit) for 5-8 minutes. The breads should be dry when they come out of the oven. If not, it is better to leave them in a tin to dry over a few days than risk overbaking them.

Good Luck!

Sincerely,
Sara Hjalmarsson

[barbarella]

hello from down under
here is my attempt at naturally soured rye crispbread
soak 2 cups of rye grains in lots of water(immerse at least under 5cm more water) in sprouting jar
-add 1-2 TBSPs of whey from yogurt or any other life dairy preparation
-add 1 tsp of salt
-leave 48h even better 3days if grain not freshly harvested.
-rinse morning and night for 2 days
-put it in food processor with 1/2 tsp salt and and 1Tbsp of molasses. process as fine as you like your bread to be.
-put in glass or ceramic container with lid or plate on top and leave on kitchen bench for a day.
-if you didn't add water in the food processor,the mixture should now be stiff and slightly fluffed up.

Now there are two ways I carried on from here:
-1-heat skillet and drop in some coconut fat
-take big dollop of your mixture and drop onto rye floured bench
- drop more rye flour unto it and with fingers flatten it into a
pancake adding more flour if needed as mixture will be sticky.
-you can let it rise for a bit or drop it straight into medium heat
skillet and fry on both sides
-2- make your pancakes as above then let them rise 2-3h depending
on room temperature
- heat oven on low or 100 C and bake for 2h until dry
-we have a wood stove and just leave them in there in several trays overnight after cooking the meal.Pricking the breads will increase the surface area to cook and dry.they really don't need much cooking at high temp because of pre-treatment(Essene breads)
seams convoluted but once you made them its straight forward and they taste so good you will never go back to the yeast quick fix stuff!
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[Wharton]

Dear Barberella,

I've just made your whole rye Knackebrod recipe and really love the result. It makes a wonderful slab of dark rye with a sharp strong taste.

Instead of the whey from yoghurt, I just added a tablespoon of sourdough starter to the sprouted rye as I was putting it in the food processor.

Also, I did not bake quite so long, but just until the bread got nice and chewy (but crunchy around the edges). One piece which I baked a little longer got slightly bitter (maybe my oven is a little hot).

A final tip is to spread the dough onto parchment paper, which makes it easier to form and transport onto a hot stone in the oven.

This is my first time making sprouted bread of any kind. Thanks for the post. I will be doing more of this and will share with my friends.

Wharton