Black bread itself is made of whole wheat bread, not refined flour. If the so-called leftovers refer to the bran and aleurone layers of rye, then they are barely leftovers.

If these are considered scraps, then all the whole wheat bread we eat on the market now should be made of scraps.

01. Why do Russians like to eat black bread?

Russia loves to eat black bread because Russia produces rye. Northern Europe has always been the main production area of ??rye. Because rye is extremely cold-resistant, it not only does not have high requirements on soil, but also strengthens the soil. The soil is fertile, and the leaves and stems of rye are excellent pasture.

The rye output of the five countries of Russia, Poland, Belarus, Germany and Ukraine accounts for 90% of the world's total output. In other words, it is not only the Soviets who like to eat black bread, but also the Polish and Germans. Black bread, and rye can also be used to brew beer. It is also the source material for making kvass drinks that Russians cannot live without. Rye is a strategic crop in Russia today.

This is just like us people in the northwest eat noodles, people in the south eat rice, and people in Shandong eat pancakes. We eat whatever is produced, and our ancestors have eaten it for generations. This kind of food has become life itself. Foreigners can't get used to it, but locals can't live without it.

In summary, the Soviet Union relied on black bread to survive during the war, which was about the same as eating noodles without vegetables when our economy was in bad times. It is not surprising.

02. Soviet black bread during the war

During the war, the Soviet Red Army’s ration for field troops in 1941 was 900 grams of black bread and 200 grams of meat and fish per day. Of course, this was the most However, as the war progressed, the ration dropped to a quarter of the standard ration. In some places, even this ration could not be guaranteed. The reason why the Soviet Red Army's ration decreased was because the German army occupied the Soviet Union's grain rations. Library Ukraine.

In the most difficult days when the German army besieged Lezhangrad, each person could receive only 125 grams of black bread every day, and these 125 grams of black bread were still mixed with oak powder, because Oak powder can slow down the digestion speed and make you feel full. During the 900-day siege of the city by the German army, about 600,000 people died of freezing and starvation in Leningrad. However, 125 grams of black bread gave the surviving Russians their final victory. Victory, this is the real black bread, black in every sense of the word.

03. The origin of black bread.

Just like Chinese food must have a story-like origin, brown bread also has its own story.

In 1982, Napoleon led his troops to invade, and the Russian general Alexander died in battle. His young, beautiful, hard-working and intelligent daughter-in-law was unbearable, so she felt that she must do something to commemorate the deceased. Brave general husband.

She decided to go to the monastery to bake bread (I don’t know what kind of brain circuit it is, but it’s weird anyway). She saw that many soldiers didn’t eat bread very much, so she wanted to add some ingredients to the bread to make it appetizing. If this matter were done in China, wouldn't it just be a little vinegar and some hawthorn or something like that? However, this was not popular in Russia at that time, but the idea was the same, that is, it must be sour first.

She put some vanilla seeds and wine mother in the bread, kneaded it into bread, fermented it for three days (you want that taste), and baked it again after three days. The color was black and yellow, shiny, and sour. Tasty to the nose, she became the inventor of brown bread, and the bread became very popular.

Don’t think you must try it after reading the story. Give up as soon as possible. It tastes terrible! Sour and hard! If you want to be like Lao Maozi and add some pickled cucumber and pickled fish slices, it will be even better. After basically eating it, you will die. It is very different from the cornmeal pancakes and sticky bean buns in the Northeast. It is a dark dish. !