Mhmmm, the bread smells rooty. It's a dark wholemeal bread, juicy and with a crispy crust, it's a perfect invitation to a hearty snack. Or the lacy bread, soft and yet made from whole grains, you don't even need any more ingredients, it tastes the same. The bread is called ackerritterbrot, the bread is a urspitz. These are the latest creations of manfred enders, head of the degetsmuhle in bischofsheim.
The special thing about bread and urspitz is the grain. It is the first regional bread with cereals that comes directly from the neighborhood. And it is not normal commercial grain, but original grain, which the families michael tulit, rudolf wappes and peter friedrich from weisbach and sondernau cultivate. In the rhona cooperation (rhoner kooperation fur nachhaltigkeit), they produce emmer, forest perennial rye and spelt on their fields.
More content, less yield
The advantage of the original grain is obvious, it is robust and requires little manure, even in comparison with modern organic farming.
"The original varieties have not been cultivated, many of the original ingredients have not been removed", explained michael tulit. "Since the neolithic age, it has simply been used again and again." They are therefore very suitable for extensive arable farming. However, they are significantly less productive.
Beer from emmer
Peter friedrich, who actually wanted to brew beer from emmer, came up with the idea of growing native grains. It took three to four years before he was able to harvest emmer. "The soil was much too rich for the original grain."
With the emmer from friedrich, the forest rye and spelt from wappes and tulit, the first domestic baking attempts were then made. Because also the threshing, cleaning and milling of the grown original grain is in the hands of the initiative. The members have the appropriate technology for the complete processing chain. Only the dehusking of the spelt and the emmer is done in a regional organic farm.
Above all the centrofanmuhle of peter friedrich is something special. "It is a particularly gentle process for milling grain. In the process, even more of the valuable ingredients are preserved", he explained the process.
For some years now, the farmers have been working together, supporting each other with technology and exchanging seeds. The flour produced is used for self-supply and was and is also sold in small quantities to interested consumers.
But they were not really satisfied with their baking tests. That's when master baker manfred enders came into play. At a family celebration the idea was born to bake his own urkornbrot with the flour of the initiative. "I was immediately enthusiastic about the idea and immediately started several baking attempts." Even that did not succeed at first go. But enders did not give up. He tinkered with the recipe and the processing. "I wanted to offer my customers a good bread. It was a challenge that I gladly accepted." Since the original grains lack some of the baking properties that today's consumers demand and that are fulfilled by modern varieties, manfred enders tested them for a good six months. "The low proportion of endosperm was a particular problem. The bread became only flat and such a bread today nobody likes to buy more. But now I am satisfied. They are two high-quality, artisanal products."
The ackerritterbrot and the urspitz are two whole-grain products that do not need to shy away from the comparison with commercial goods. Since the original grain is almost gluten-free, they are also suitable for special wishes and needs of the customers. "It should be something special" said enders and has also succeeded. He did not want to reveal anything about the exact ingredients and baking processes, except to say that the original lard contains honey that also comes from the immediate neighborhood; wappes and tulit also practice beekeeping.
"We are glad that we have found a baker in the degetsmuhle bakery who supports our idea and continues to process our flour into a high-quality product. We hope that in the future we will be able to grow more original cereals, so that we can preserve the old varieties and the associated weeds, friedrich, tulit and wappes took the opportunity of the tasting to thank manfred enders.
Hardly any manure, no pesticides
Because extensive cultivation means that the fields are not or only little and then only organically fertilized. No chemical pesticides are used and little seed is used, so that rare arable weeds can also reproduce on these fields.
"In summer, the fields are a veritable sea of bloody cornflowers and knight's-bitterns, a rare wild field plant that was almost extinct but is now to be found again. The plants can survive in such fields and spread further.
They are also important hive plants for the bees in summer. Since the original cereals do not require any crop protection, you harvest an uncontaminated original product. The beer is not forgotten yet. "Maybe I'll get back to that as well," he said, said friedrich.
The ackerritterbrot from the urgetreide is available on wednesday and saturday, the urspitz daily in the bakery degetsmuhle in bischofsheim.