Hop-Leavened Bread

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Since time immemorial, long before commercial baker's yeast was known, bread was kneaded using a sourdough starter made from hop cones. Such bread stayed fresh for a long time, had a lovely aroma, and a wonderful flavour. The tradition of baking bread with a hop starter has survived in some monasteries to this day.

Around the 15th and 16th centuries, hop starter was being made in Germany, Switzerland, and Hungary, as well as by the peoples of the Middle East and representatives of Indian cultures. In Alaska and the northwest of Canada, old gold prospectors knew how to make a hop starter with which they baked not only bread but also delicious rolls, waffles, and pancakes. When they stopped to rest, they would bake bread in their gold-panning bowls: one bowl held the dough, another served as a lid, and they placed it all over the coals. The bread would rise and take on the shape of the bowl.

In time, commercial baker's yeast displaced the hop starter.

Hops are a remarkably beneficial plant. Their polyphenols — such as quercetin, rutin, and catechins — have antioxidant properties, prevent the oxidation of ascorbic acid, and protect the body's cell membranes. Hops also have the ability to eliminate strontium-90 from the body, and possess antifungal properties as well.

Making this bread takes a great deal of time, but you will have the chance to taste the very bread that our ancestors once ate.

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Starter:

• 16 g hop cones
• 400 ml hot water
• 1 tbsp honey
• 150 g rye flour

1. Pour hot water over the hop cones, cover, and leave for half an hour.
2. Strain, then add the honey and flour.
3. Cover with a cloth and leave for two days (depending on room temperature, fermentation may begin sooner or later).
4. Transfer to a jar, cover with a lid pierced with holes, and place the starter in the refrigerator.

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Pre-ferment:

• 1 cup wheat flour
• 3 cups hot water
• 4 tbsp hop starter

1. Add hot water to the flour and stir to combine.
2. Once the flour mixture has cooled slightly, add the starter.
3. Cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place for 3–4 hours.

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Dough:

• 800 g wheat flour
• ½ cup water
• 1 tsp salt

1. Pour the water and pre-ferment into the flour, then add the salt.
2. Knead the dough in a stand mixer for 10 minutes.
3. Cover and leave to rise for 10–12 hours (you can leave it overnight).
4. Gently knock back the dough on a floured work surface. Shape the loaf and cover with a cloth.
5. Place an empty husyatnytsia (a heavy lidded roasting pot, ideally cast iron or ceramic) in the oven and heat at 230 °C for 45 minutes.
6. Place the dough into the hot pot, cover with the lid, and bake at 230 °C for 45 minutes.
7. Turn off the oven and leave the pot with the bread inside for another half an hour without opening.
8. Remove the bread, wrap it in a cloth, and wait for it to cool.