Sourdough rye is popular through out Northern and Eastern Europe and, if made with about 50% or more regular flour, can be shaped without using a loaf pan, like regular sourdough bread; the Germans make over 300 kinds of rye bread. Rye grain has gluten but not a kind that creates an elastic envelope in which to capture gas created by yeast fermentation. Pliny the Elder was critical of the grain’s bitterness and considered it a food for the very poor. Which it did become as rye grows well in poor soil and in short growing seasons, surviving early frosts and marginal soil.
Additional Reading
- Rye, A Grain With Ancient Roots, is Rising Again – The New York Times
- What is Rye Bread? – Bakerpedia
- Rye – The New World Encyclopedia
- Domestication History of Rye – ThoughtCo