Rye Bread

I've always felt that art should be open to interpretation and lately I've really been simmering on all my past work. How has it combined to create one tasty course?

I've wanted to find a way to get back to my witchy roots which were inspired, and nourished, by my love of booze and botany. I thought about how "spirits" enhanced our mood, whether it made us amorous, or just giggly and relaxed. Or if you're me, just embarrassing your friends and forgetting that you picked all the music on the jukebox and then getting super excited when it "magically" plays all your favorite songs. So if you'll allow it I'd like to dub today #witchcraftwednesday and talk about the way our food is magical, afterall it allows us to connect with humans both alive and dead in beautiful ways!

Since we're talking love I thought it only right we start with bread; Rye to be specific! Rye is a carrier of strong energy for a pursuit in love of any sort. Cornmeal in this recipe serves as a foundation for romance and caraway (which was often used in victorian mourning biscuits) improves passion. It’s ironic then, to think that something that could be associated with love could also have an alleged association with the Salem Witch Trials that took place between 1692 and 1693 where at least 19 people died.

The idea stemmed from Linnda R. Caporael’s 1976 paper Ergotism: The Satan Loosed In Salem. She was looking for “a concrete explanation for the witch-hunting mania, [and] stumbled upon a theory so wild it just might be true: A fungus in bad bread caused the symptoms of "witchcraft" that drove Salemites to persecute one another."She pegged ergotism as the culprit. It's a condition that results from a fungus that grows on rye. It looks like overbaked grain.”

If ingested people can develop gangrenous ergotism (which causes the limbs to fall off) or convulsive ergotism (which can include convulsions, choking, pricking, and even hallucinations). These symptoms sounded suspiciously closed to the ones reported by those who felt they’d fallen victim to the throes of witchcraft

While this theory is still debated there’s a good chance that it’s at least partially true, although more than likely not the sole cause. If you want to learn more I recommend checking out the Stuff You Should Know podcast on this topic or read the full Vox article I have linked above. For now, let’s get baking and I’ll let you be the judge as to whether or not this Rye is witchy.

Pssst according to my Kitchen Witch Cookbook our magical attributes are: protection, peace, kinship, money, and love. The celebrations it’s associated with are: Handfasting, The Great Rite, and reunions.

Ingredients

• 3 envelopes active dry yeast

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (max 110°F)

• 1/2 cup molasses

• 2 tablespoons oil (in general I use whatever I have on hand)

• 2 1/2 cups white flour

• 1/4 cup cocoa

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds

• 2 cups rye flour

• 1/4 cup cornmeal

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water and molasses and allow to sit for 15 minutes

2. Add oil

3. Mix white flour, cocoa, salt, and caraway seeds in a large bowl

4. Stir in yeast mixture until moist

5. Mix in rye flour a little at a time until the dough is easy to handle

6. Sprinkle your kneading area with rye flour and turn the dough out on the surface

7. Let the dough sit for 20 minutes

8. Knead for 10 minutes

9. Place in a greased bowl and turn it over once, cover with a tea towel and let it rise until it has double in size (about an hour)

10. Punch the dough down and divide in half.

11. Let it rest five minutes and then shape as desired.

12. Place on a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal

13. Set the loaves far enough apart that they will not touch as they rise (but if they do they’ll still taste good, I know from experience)

14. Let the loaves rise for 45 minutes (we are doing this to allow the yeast to continue to move around and eat the sugars in your dough and create gas which gives your bread that gorgeous shape)

15. PHEW ok we are ready to bake! Turn your oven to 375°F and bake for about 30 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when you give the bottoms a little tap.

16. Let these babies cool before you eat but I definitely recommend diving in when they’re still a little warm.