In medieval times bread was one of the most important foods. There were even laws regulating the price or way of making bread in most of the European countries. There were different types of bread in different regions of Europe. This specific recipe is from Polish city of Wroclaw according to their law of making bread. The recipe is for 9-10 loafs of bread.
Ingredients:
1 kg of stone ground rye flour
850 g of stone ground spelt or whole club wheat flour
500 ml of thick beer
14 g of dry yeast proofed in 250 ml of lukewarm water
1 l of water at room temperature
2 tablespoons of salt
Directions:
Combine the flours in a mixing bowl. Measure out 950g and put this in a large work bowl or bread through. Combine the thick beer, yeast and water. Add this to the flour and stir to create a slurry. Cover and let stand overnight until foamy. Combine the salt with the remaining flour, and stir down the slurry. Add the salted flour to the slurry and knead into a ball of dough on a well-floured work surface. Knead for at least 20 minutes, vigorously striking the dough from time to time with a bat or long rolling pin to break down the glutten. Set aside, cover, and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk. When it is fully risen, knock down and knead again, breaking it with a bat or rolling pin as before. When the dough is soft and spongy, mold it out into 9 or 10 round loaves (each about 375 g to allow for water loss during baking). Cover and let the loaves rise in a warm place until they are roughly 15 cm in diameter.
While the loaves are rising, preheat the oven to 250 degrees C. When the loaves are fully risen, set them on a greased pizza sheets and cut a small sign of the cross or some other preferred pattern into the top of each loaf. Set the loaves in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 190 degrees C and finish baking the bread for 10 to 20 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a rack. Do not cut the bread until it is room temperature.
(recipe copied from http://www.medievalists.net/2013/07/04/bread-in-the-middle-ages/ and edited)
