It was time to bake bread again, and as always I looked into breadworld.com to choose a recipe. So far, whatever I have tired out of there turns out to be wonderful. Previously I have shown the steps to make Wheat Walnut Bread, on this site. Since then I have tired many others and will continue posting them one by one ;)

With a friend’s suggestion, I decided to bake this Russian Black bread. Despite the fact that I didn’t have everything the recipe was calling for, I went ahead with this choice of recipe by making minor adjustments to the ingredients list. You can see my modifications in the parenthesis below.

This, definitely, is very aromatic and dense bread. Don’t get me wrong; the denseness is not because it is undercooked or soggy, it is simply dense because of the rye flour. As you see below, it also has very unusual ingredients; chocolate, cofee, vinegar!

It was nice to have a slice with dinner but I am not sure how well it will be with jam. I just cannot imagine biting on a slice of bread with fennel seeds and our blackberry jam.

I am actually very suprised that this bread has risen at all! During the first kneading stage I was thinking “how strange, it is supposed to be yield 2 loaves but it only asked for 1 envelope of yeast.” ThenI had an urge to look at the recipe again; I am glad I did that! I had to dissolve another package of yeast in warm water and knead in to the existing dough. Needless to say I also had to add more flour than it was planned to have. Well, after all, these might have contributed to the fact that it is a dense bread, who knows?

Ingredients:
Makes 2 round loaves

1. 2-1/2 cups warm water (100 to 110oF)
2. 2 envelopes Active Dry Yeast
3. 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
4. 1/4 cup white vinegar
5. 1/4 cup dark molasses
6. 1 (1-ounce) square unsweetened chocolate, melted
7. 2 teaspoons salt
8. 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules (I used 2 tsp Turkish coffee)
9. 1 tablespoon Fennel Seed
10. 4-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
11. 5 cups rye flour
12. 3/4 cup imported chopped or snipped pitted dates ( I used rasins)

Directions:

1. Place 1/2 cup warm water in large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved. Add remaining water, butter, and next 6 ingredients. Slowly stir in 3 cups all-purpose flour; blend well. Stir in rye flour and enough remaining all-purpose flour to make soft dough. Remove dough to lightly floured surface. Cover; let rest 15 minutes. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 to 15 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
2. Punch dough down. Remove dough to lightly floured surface. Knead in dates. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into 5-inch ball. Place each ball in greased 8-inch round cake pan or on large greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until done. Remove from pans; let cool on wire racks.

Boza is a fermented bulgur drink which is quite popular in Turkey. Even though it is mostly consumed in winter, I see no reason why it would not be enjoyed in summer days, either.

As many of you may know, living out of your own country has many disadvantages; not being able to find the food you take for granted is a number one for many of us. This drink is one of those. But not anymore: About 5 – 6 months ago I asked one of my friends if she knew how to make it. Sure enough she (Zeynep Töre) knew the recipe and was nice enough to share her grandma’s recipe with me.

I thought this drink was only known in Turkey. Well, I was wrong. A short internet searched revealed that many Balkan countries and some Middle Eastern countries also enjoy it and turns out they even serve it in breakfast in Bulgaria. This again brings up “Who owns the recipe?” or “Who made it first?” type of a question, but I am not even going to go there. Whoever first came up with it: thank you!

It was once prohibited in the Ottoman Empire time, since it contains 2%- 6 % alcohol. This percentage heavily depends on the length of the fermentation period, the sugar amount and the heat of the room it has been fermented.

From what I read, it can be made with corn, bulgur, millet … possibly any grain you can think about. So far I have made only with bulgur and mixture of bulgur & rice. Cannot taste the difference.

Maybe I should leave the history behind this drink to the famous Vefa Bozacısı of İstanbul. Here is a little quote from them explaining the drink itself in short:

Boza is a fermented bulgur refreshment with addition of water and sugar. It contains vitamin A and four types of vitamin B as well as vitamins C and E. During fermentation, Boza produces lactic acid. This type of acid which is rarely found in food products helps digestion and also recommended for its milk-producing property for pregnant women and for sportsman as a valuable source of vitamin. It is very effective in the cholera treatment.

Without further ado, let me present you with the boza recipe:

Ingredients:
For 5 – 6 cups

1. 1 cup bulgur ( ½ cup bulgur + ½ cup rice can be used as well)
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 8 – 9 cups of water
4. 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

Preparation:

1. Put the grains and 8 cups of water in a big pot and slowly cook it. If you like, you can soak the grains in the water overnight to help this process. Do not put the lid on. Cook until it is easy to mash the grains



2. Strain it through a fine colander by pressing hard and collect the thick juice; this will be your boza. You can discard the pulp



3. Add the sugar to the thick juice and stir well. It should be thinner than tomato paste, but not as juicy as tomato juice. If the blend is so thick, you can add more water to it. Put back on to low heat, and boil for about 3 – 4 mins. Pour into a glass bowl and let it cool down to about 120F



4. In another bowl, mix the yeast with warm water, and pour it into the big bowl. Make sure to mix well. Cover it with double layer cheesecloth or a kitchen towel and leave it in the room temperature until the bubbles appear. This can take up to 2 days, depending on how hot the room is



5. Serve it chilled. Sprinkle cinnamon on top and serve with dry roasted chickpeas (another Turkish/Middle Eastern snack), if you can have any. You may also need a spoon to get to the boza that is at the bottom of your glass/cup

Enjoy!