Pumpernickel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the bread. For other uses, see Pumpernickel (disambiguation).
Pumpernickel is a type of German sourdough bread made with a combination of rye flour and rye meal (a more coarsely ground form of the flour).
Pumpernickel dough is very dark in color when baked, even when compared to breads made with flour that includes bran. The finished product tastes very similar to rye bread, but differs in that pumpernickel recipes often call for molasses, helping to give pumpernickel its dark color. Pumpernickel is about three times as dense as wheat bread.
Traditional German pumpernickel contains no coloring agents, instead relying on the Maillard reaction to produce the characteristic deep brown color, sweet dark chocolate coffee flavor, and earthy aroma. Loaves produced in this manner require 16 to 24 hours of baking in a low temperature (about 250°F or 120°C) steam-filled oven. They tend to have a much more intense flavour than the approximations provided by adding molasses, coffee, cocoa powder, or other darkening agents employed by many bakeries. Other than in a few traditional German bakeries, most bakers eschew the long baking time for obvious economic reasons and, in addition to coloring and flavor agents, often add wheat flour (to provide gluten structure and increase rising) and commercial yeast (to quicken the rise compared to a traditional sourdough). The result is a loaf that resembles commercial rye bread with darker coloring. Many bakers also add a significant amount of caraway seeds, providing an alternate flavor that is now characteristic of many commercial pumpernickel (and light rye) breads.
Pumpernickel loaves are almost always baked without a baking pan, resulting in a rounded loaf. Pumpernickel bread is often difficult to find in the United States at supermarkets and smaller groceries, but can be found throughout Europe and the United Kingdom.
[edit] Etymology
Debate flourishes about the origin of the word. Philologist Johann Christoph Adelung states about the Germanic origin of the word, in the vernacular, Pumpen was a New High German synonym for being flatulent, a word similar in meaning to the English "fart", and "Nickel" was a form of the name Nicholas, an appellation commonly associated with a goblin or devil (e.g., "Old Nick", a familiar name for Satan). Hence, pumpernickel is described as the "devil's fart", a definition accepted by the Stopes International Language Database [1], the publisher Random House [2], and by some English language dictionaries, including Webster's Dictionary [3]. The American Heritage Dictionary adds "so named from being hard to digest."
The OED, however, does not commit to any particular etymology for the word. It suggests it may mean a lout or booby, but also says, "origin uncertain". Its first recorded use in English is from 1756.
Another theory comes from a 17th-century anecdote, according to which a French horseman, stopping at a Westphalian inn, is offered a piece of black bread. Surveying the food with suspicion, he declares: "C'est bon pour Nicole" - Nicole being his horse [4].
[edit] Pumpernickel in pop culture
- In The Penultimate Peril, the 12th book in A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Pumpernickel toast was frequently enjoyed by the orphans' late mother during her final pregnancy
- Pumpernickel was often mentioned on the children's program Barney & Friends as Barney's favorite bread for sandwiches.
- In the Neurotically Yours episode "AMITYVILLE TOASTER", Foamy places pumpernickel in the haunted toaster and 56 seconds later it popped up as a blueberry muffin.
- Daffy Duck did a Scarlet Pimpernel parody where he was the Scarlet Pumpernickel.
