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Rye bread - and translating recipes from Finnish tradition

12/27/2016

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I’ve translated an excerpt from a classic Finnish cookbook - and it has given me incredible insights into rye bread.

There are two reasons I wanted to do this:

Baking relies heavily on tradition and culture to inform good recipes. So what better way to look for advice than from a classic Finnish cookbook steeped in rye baking history?
Supposedly Charlemagne, a King of France, once said, “to possess another language is to possess another soul.” Well, I’d like to add to that: to possess another recipe language is to possess another soul food. So where better to use my bilingual skills than to translate Finnish rye bread recipes?

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Poached eggs - and "engineering" the breakfast of champions

12/21/2016

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“Can you show me how to do that?” My roommate when I was living in Houston wanted to learn how to make poached eggs.

He had seen me do it countless times - cracking eggs into hot water and scooping out the cooked beauties a few minutes later, laying them lovingly on buttered toast. I used to eat poached eggs every other morning for breakfast. They are super easy to prepare and just about the healthiest way to eat an egg. There’s no frying in oil happening here; it’s just water that cooks a poached egg. And with that comes another plus: there’s no dishes to wash up, either. You’re out the door with a great breakfast in your belly with no dirty dishes left behind. No wonder my roomie wanted in on this secret.

So I told him just how to do it. He got the hang of it right away and before long he, too, was eating poached eggs for breakfast every other morning.

In this post I revisit the question of how to poach an egg - but this time I use a scientific method to "engineer" exactly how to cook the best poached egg.

Poached egg on toasted cornbread

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Baking on a snow day - and an epic quest for a ficelle

12/13/2016

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I woke up this morning to something I hadn’t seen since the last winter I spent in St. John's three years ago: a snow day. While looking out my bedroom window in the morning it immediately occurred to me: instead of studying for the next day's statistics exam I could play in the kitchen all day.

You’re right. There’s no logic there. But the term "snow day" is ingrained in people from St. John’s since childhood to mean a day where the seemingly unshakeable concepts of “deadlines” and “school” and “work “ lose all meaning in a glorious white-out of snow.

Bakers apparently, see things a little differently, as is evidenced by Georgetown Bakery staying open today despite the blizzard. (Check out the images of Brian as he made an epic quest this morning to get his ficelle.) I agree with the bakers at Georgetown: baking is a perfect snow storm activity.

This post records some notes and shenanigans from inside a kitchen entombed in snow: how to the get the crumb of rye bread just right, how to check your oven for hot spots, and how to get perfect crust.

Brian makes his way up Bonaventure Ave towards Georgetown Bakery despite the blizzard

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Rye bread - and how to make your own sourdough

12/10/2016

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FINALLY... the end of a busy semester - which means I have time to focus on what really matters: food!

For some time now I've wanted to write a post about rye bread and especially about how to make it at home using sourdough leaven. So here it is: everything you need to know about what makes sourdough rye so freaking great and exactly how to make it. I'll show you two delicious recipes I've managed to concoct in my flour-dusted kitchen: the Danish Rye Loaf (rugbrød) and the Finnish Sourdough Rye (hapanleipä). After reading this post you can have your starter up and running in five days, and have amazing bread on the sixth.

Finnish Sourdough Rye (Hapanleipä)

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I'm Erik, the Burnt Chef. I'm a Finnish-born Newfoundlander living in Norway. I have a passion for cooking and a deep fascination for the culinary history of the North. Simplicity guides my cooking. Time, place, and history guide my storytelling. This is my personal blog about food.

burnt chef

Rye bread - and translating recipes from Finnish tradition

Poached eggs - and "engineering" the breakfast of champions

Baking on a snow day - and an epic quest for a ficelle

Rye bread - and how to make your own sourdough

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burnt chef

﻿Rye bread - and translating recipes from Finnish tradition

﻿Poached eggs - and "engineering" the breakfast of champions

Baking on a snow day - and an epic quest for a ficelle

﻿Rye bread - and how to make your own sourdough

Author

Archives

Categories

Rye bread - and translating recipes from Finnish tradition

Poached eggs - and "engineering" the breakfast of champions

Rye bread - and how to make your own sourdough