RICHARD HART & SUPER SEED RYE BREAD

a baking legend and his perfect rye bread

Let’s talk about bread, shall we?

It’s one of the most basic, beautiful, delicious and staple foods we might make or eat. There are many hundreds, even thousands of types of bread to choose from, they often define the cultures and cuisines that they hail from, and we all have a type of bread that feels like home. A simple loaf of banana bread is probably one of the first things I learned to bake, and whilst it’s not what we would immediately think of as “bread”, it has a special place in my heart as the first thing that connected me to baking. I went on to become obsessed with baking quick breads, such as soda bread, flatbreads and eventually, the famously not so quick, sourdough focaccia.

I became fascinated with sourdough during the pandemic, like many others all over the world. It was a moment where I suddenly had the time and attention to devote to nurturing a starter and learning all the necessary tools and techniques to keeping one alive. Which, spoiler alert, is actually quite simple. During that time, the first recipe I mastered was a focaccia. It felt more approachable as it doesn’t require too much shaping, the use of a banneton or any scoring. I have now been making that same sourdough focaccia for nearly five years, always serving it at our seasonal supper clubs and I have included the recipe in my cookbook, In for Dinner, which comes out in May. After the lockdowns lifted and life became busier again, I stopped experimenting with sourdough and only get my starter up and running to bake off loaves for the supper club, but it remains one of my favourite breads to bake and I know I will be making it for years to come.

I’ve always been slightly put off by the science of sourdough baking, the books dedicated to it and the general feeling that I needed to track temperatures and PH levels - not something I feel wholly comfortable doing. So when I received a copy of Richard Hart’s book, I was relieved to read in the introduction that his writing is rooted in the touch, smell and feel of bread, rather than a deep dive into the science of it all. The rye bread recipe, shared below, is the easiest, most delicious and simple sourdough recipe I think I have ever undertaken. I never knew how easy it was to make delicious rye bread, and now that I do, I will be making it as often as I can. His writing is approachable, warm, fun and genuinely interesting. It feels like an instant classic and the perfect book to gift a bread lover in your life. I had such a wonderful time interviewing him for this newsletter and I am so excited to share our conversation with you. Most importantly, his tip about how to put your starter “to sleep” when you’re not using it, has changed my life.

Sending love, Rosie x