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List of Traditional Products · Podlasie · Bakery and confectionery

Chleb staropolski – chleb żytni

A rye bread on natural sourdough, with a crumb that doesn't fall apart under the knife and freshness that lasts several days. A Białystok bakery recreated it from the stories of farm wives.

OriginBiałystok (recipe from the Knyszyn area)
CategoryBakery and confectionery
On the list since28 September 2005
Bielsk PodlaskiWasilkówŁapyWysokie MazowieckieSzepietowoSvislachChoroszczMichałowoCzyżewChleb staropolski – chleb żytni020 kmN© OpenStreetMap

History

Between 1956 and 1960, women from the village of Nowiny near Knyszyn described how they baked bread. On that basis, in 1978 the PSS Społem bakery in Białystok developed a recipe. The bread received a positive opinion from an industry research institute and a standard of its own. The dough ferments several times, 10–12 hours in total, and the addition of potatoes keeps the bread fresh for longer. It has been on the list since 2005.

Recipe

Home-baked rye sourdough bread with potato

Makes: 1 loaf in a loaf tin, about 1.2 kgTime: 1 h 30 min

Ingredients

  • 150 g active rye sourdough starter
  • 500 g rye flour, type 720
  • 100 g wholemeal rye flour, type 2000
  • 100 g cooked potato, mashed or riced
  • 450 ml lukewarm water
  • 12 g salt
  • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)

Method

  1. In the evening, mix the starter, 200 g of the type 720 flour and 200 ml of the water. Cover and leave at room temperature for 10–12 hours.
  2. In the morning add the rest of the flour, the potato, water, salt and caraway. Mix into a thick, sticky dough.
  3. Transfer to a greased loaf tin, level the top with a wet hand and dust with flour.
  4. Leave to rise until the dough has grown by about a third and cracks appear, 2–3 hours.
  5. Bake for 15 minutes at 240°C, then 45 minutes at 200°C. Take out of the tin and cool on a rack.
  6. Slice after 6 hours at the earliest, ideally the next day.
TipSet aside a spoonful of the dough in a jar and keep it in the fridge. That is your starter for the next loaf.

Where to taste and buy

Chleb staropolski is baked by the Białystok Społem cooperative. Look for it in its shops and bakeries in Białystok.

Description based on the entry in the Ministry of Agriculture's List of Traditional Products. The quantities in the recipe are our own suggestion for the home kitchen. Product sheet on gov.pl →

Stay in Klejniki

Most of these flavours are within an hour's drive of our house. A kitchen with a wood-fired range is waiting, in case you feel like baking something.

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