Old Bread, New Bread

​There are many things to do with old bread. If it's not too hard, you can thin slice it and bake it with a little fat (olive oil, butter, lard...) to make crackers, or cube it up for croutons. You could even toast and crush it into bread crumbs, I suppose, if you didn't mind the unholy racket of your food processor. Or you can practice the peasant trick of adding leftover bread to soup, as with Italian ribollita. The last is especially nice in this wet, soupy season.

But the most interesting of all the old-bread repurposings, I think, is to re-ferment it into a drink. Kvass, or kwas, or квас, is a slavic soda made from old bread. Actually, after digging deeper into the astonishing, meandering mind of Sandor Katz, I learned that kvass can refer more generally to northern European low-alcohol fermented drinks, like the beet kvass you might use for borscht, or lettuce kvass, which was once a common summer drink among my Ukrainian ancestors, before the shtetls were exterminated by the Holocaust (I'll admit, I'm skeptical of the deliciousness of lettuce soda, but am willing to try this summer when greens are abundant). 
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I am far from a kvass expert, but if you'd like to try this strange and lovely drink for yourself, the general idea is simple:

1. Slice and toast old rye bread until crisp and golden brown.
2. Put the toast in a bowl or pot. Pour boiling water over the top to completely cover. Place a plate or smaller lid on top to fully submerge the bread. Leave overnight.
3. Strain the bread. This is not easy. I've had the best luck squeezing it in a clean tea towel. Cheese cloth in a colander would also work. You will not be able to remove all the water. 
4. Add a little sugar to the liquid, perhaps a 1/2 cup / gallon of bread tea. Add a pinch of salt, a generous spoonful of sourdough culture, and any herbs or spices. I like adding a small handful of fresh mint. This time of year, citrus juice could also be good.
5. Cover and let ferment till bubbling vigorously. The length of time this takes will depend on how much sugar you added, your sourdough culture, and the temperature of your house. 
6. If you'd like your soda carbonated, you can bottle it before drinking. Be careful not to explode your bottles! I like using old plastic soda bottles, since they're built to withstand pressure and you can see and feel them expand. Another trick is to add a raisin to each bottle. When the raisin floats to the surface, the soda is ready to drink.

Experiment! Have fun!

On the new bread front, I'm baking Red & White, Mountain Rye, and Wild & Seedy this week. Order HERE by 10 am tomorrow for Wednesday pickup.

Happy Sunday!

Sophie