flipRye Bread Kvass
Rye Bread Kvass
Why this dish? Mendeleev, a great scientist of solution chemistry and fermentation (he defended a thesis on the mixing of alcohol and water), lived in a Russia where kvass flowed at every table. This fermented bread drink, lightly sparkling, was the national refreshment, popular among both commoners and scholars.
A rustic drink made by fermenting toasted rye bread with a little sugar and starter. Slightly sour, barely alcoholic, fizzy: the Russian soda before sodas.
Fermentation, I studied it all my life — and kvass is its simplest and most pleasant lesson. Take your slightly stale rye bread, toast it brown, throw it into warm water with a little starter and sugar, and let nature work for a day or two. You will see bubbles appear: it is the same patient chemistry as in my flasks. Well chilled, it quenches thirst better than anything, and does not cloud the mind that must remain sharp.
- •Stale black rye bread — several slices (fermentable base)
- •Spring water — a bucket (medium)
- •Sourdough starter or baker's yeast — a little (ferment)
- •Honey or sugar — a few spoonfuls (fermentable sugar)
- •Raisins or blackcurrant leaves — a handful (flavor, helps carbonation)
Rye Bread Kvass
A rustic drink made by fermenting toasted rye bread with a little sugar and starter. Slightly sour, barely alcoholic, fizzy: the Russian soda before sodas.
Why this dish? Mendeleev, a great scientist of solution chemistry and fermentation (he defended a thesis on the mixing of alcohol and water), lived in a Russia where kvass flowed at every table. This fermented bread drink, lightly sparkling, was the national refreshment, popular among both commoners and scholars.
Fermentation, I studied it all my life — and kvass is its simplest and most pleasant lesson. Take your slightly stale rye bread, toast it brown, throw it into warm water with a little starter and sugar, and let nature work for a day or two. You will see bubbles appear: it is the same patient chemistry as in my flasks. Well chilled, it quenches thirst better than anything, and does not cloud the mind that must remain sharp.
Ingredients (period version)
- Stale black rye bread — several slices (fermentable base)
- Spring water — a bucket (medium)
- Sourdough starter or baker's yeast — a little (ferment)
- Honey or sugar — a few spoonfuls (fermentable sugar)
- Raisins or blackcurrant leaves — a handful (flavor, helps carbonation)
Ingredients
- Whole rye bread — 300 g, sliced (fermentable base)
- Water — 2.5 L (medium)
- Active dry yeast — 1 tsp (ferment)
- Sugar — 5-6 tbsp (fermentable sugar)
- Raisins — 1 handful (flavor and fizz)
Method
- Toast the bread slices in the oven until well browned (not burnt) — this toasting gives color and flavor.
- Put the bread in a large container, cover with boiling water, and let steep for 6-8 hours.
- Strain through a cloth. Into the warm liquid (not hot), add the sugar and then the dissolved yeast.
- Cover with a cloth and let ferment at room temperature for 1-2 days, until it fizzes and sours to your taste.
- Bottle with a few raisins, seal, and refrigerate for 1 day for carbonation. Drink well chilled (best consumed young).
How it was made : Kvass was made in every household and sold on the street by the ladle by itinerant vendors. Low in alcohol (often less than 1%), it also served as a base for cold summer soups like okroshka. Its production recycled stale bread: nothing was wasted.
The contemporary twist : Serve it in clean laboratory flasks with a label 'Solution No. 11' — a tribute to the fermentation chemistry dear to Mendeleev, without changing the recipe.
Dmitri Mendeleev · Charactorium
