A traditional sourdough bread recipe for a wood-fired oven

Ever since we restored the 19^th century house at Towerwater, we always planned to use the wood fired oven or bakoond in the kitchen. Living in a house built in the first quarter of the 1800’s, with a garden designed to complement our lifestyle, asked for traditional methods and activities to be revisited and rediscovered.

The restored hearth and bakoond

Food is such an integral part of a culture. Even more so if it is steeped in tradition. Cooking on fire is a skill and art that comes with practice. Baking in a bakoond is a completely different way of cooking. Particularly if one is used to a temperature-controlled fan oven with a glass door through which one can monitor the next masterpiece that is going to emerge and be presented to guests.

The cast iron door of the bakoond

The cast iron door of a bakoond is a keeper of secrets. Secrets that only reveal what transpired in its dark depths after the cooking time has been reached. I remember the crisp suckling piglet made in a wood fired oven in a restaurant in Segovia, Spain. I went to Segovia in search of Ponche Segoviano, which is a traditional Spanish cake originating from Segovia. I was also keen to try Cochinillo Asado or Segovia’s Roast Suckling Pig.

I enjoy eating local when I travel. Ponche Segoviano is made with marzipan, my one weakness and Segovia’s roast suckling pig is world renowned. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant I went to nearly 20 years ago, but I remember that piglet as it came out of the wood fired oven. It was so tender and the skin so crispy.

I vaguely remember the Alcázar de Segovia, the aqueduct, the cathedral and the heat, but the memory of the food is as if I ate it yesterday.

Some of the Africana cookbooks in the Towerwater library

We enjoy the traditions and history of food as much as we enjoy its eating. I believe in preserving our culinary culture through recording it and collecting Africana cookbooks. 

The 24 loaf bakoond needs to be reconfigured for more modest cooking purposes. The bakoond of the main dwelling of a historical farm would have produced bread and baked goods to feed every soul living and working on the farm.

An outside oven at the Drostdy museum in Swellendam

The sister of the house-owner from whom we bought nearly 30 years ago would describe how they baked 24 loafs of bread at a time in the bakoond.  The Towerwater main house must have been considered a big house for its time as it had an indoor oven. Smaller houses with the luxury of a wood fired oven, would usually have it as a free-standing structure outdoors.

A photograph of a windmill on a Cape farm in the Mayville museum in Swellendam

A windmill, horsemill or a watermill would have been part of the layout of the farm. The type of mill depending on prevailing winds or the availability of a suitable water source nearby or not. Most vernacular farmhouses would have had a handmill or "gatskuur"(two circular stones on top of each other that was used to mill wheat by grinding the stones together with a handle fixed to the top stone).

The wheel of the watermill at the Drostdy in Swellendam

Detail of the watermill mechanism at the Drostdy in Swellendam

In preparation for the inauguration of the restored bakoond one day, Keith decided that he would like to find a 19^th century bread recipe to make the style of bread that would have been baked in the oven. He would practice his traditional bread baking skills until he can confidently bake a couple of loaves in the bakoond one day. The secret was to find how bread was made in the Cape before baker’s yeast was commercially available.

                                       A handmill or "gatskuur"     Photo:  Wheat Industry museum, Moorreesburg 

We found three such recipes in the Africana section of the Towerwater library. One from Hildagonda Duckitt, from her books "Hilda's 'Where Is It?' of Recipes" (published 1891) and "Hilda's Diary of a Cape Housekeeper" (published 1902). 

Hildagonda Duckitt (1839 - 1905)  Photo: http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/

On page 261 of “Hilda’s where is it?”, she gives an old Cape recipe for yeast.

“YEAST (FOR MAKING HOME-MADE BREAD).

(Our own Recipe)

Take two quarts of boiling water, an ounce of salt, three cups of meal. Put the salt into a saucepan, pour on it the boiling water, strew on it gradually three cups of meal, then cover closely, putting a cloth between the lid and pot to absorb the steam. Set it over-night in the warmest corner of your stove. At six o'clock next morning stir into it a cup of boiling water; stand the saucepan on some hot ashes, and soon it will begin to ferment. When ready for use it will have a frothy appearance and a disagreeable odour. Pour it into six pounds of meal, mix with warm water, and knead into bread.”

In her book “Diary of a Cape House Keeper” she refers to the yeast as follows “The old recipe for yeast, given in Hilda’s where is it, p.261, is excellent, though it often takes longer than twenty-four hours to ferment. In winter and very cold weather I find it best to make it thirty-six hours before required, or say at three p.m. if required at eight o’clock next morning.”

One from Elizabeth Jane Dijkman’s book “Di Suid Afrikaanse Kook, Koek en Resepte boek” (first published 1890).

Elizabeth Jane Dijkman (1840 - 1908)

“Soet Suurdeeg No. I, Extra Goed. Neem 1 blik emmer waar sowat 12 of 14 lb botter kan in gaan, gooi daarin ½ kelki sout en daarop 2½ bottels kokende water, di water moet borrel. Sit dan di emmer in ‘n kombers in di bak kis, strooi bo op di water 2 lb. grof meel, maak toe met di kombers en laat so 12 uur staan, druk dan di suurdeeg fyn met di hand, roer om met een lepel en gooi weer amper ‘n bottle water wat sink daarin, roer meel daarin dat dit so styf is as pampoen pap, strooi meel oer, en maak weer goed toe, in ‘n uur tyds is dit goed, dit moet skuim, altemit eerder goed. Dese suurdeeg het ek self uitgevind, en nog nooit hoef weg te gooi ni, dit is altyd extra, sorg mar goed dat di emmer of blik suiwer skoon is, en dat jy seker jou meel afweeg as jy oerstrooi, en as jy oerklop, moet di suurdeeg mooi styf wees, anders kom dit ni op ni, as dit te slap is.”

Translation: 
Sweet Sourdough No. 1, Extra Good. Take 1 tin bucket which can hold 12 or 14 lb of butter, throw in a half (tot?) measure of salt and pour over two and a half (pint?) bottles of boiling water, the water must be bubbling hot. Place the bucket in a blanket into the bread-baking trough, sprinkle over 2lbs of course meal, close up in the blanket and let stand for 12 hours, then press the sourdough fine by hand, then stir with a spoon and add a little less than a bottle of water that soaks into the mix, stir meal into the mix until it becomes as firm as pumpkin porridge, sprinkle flour over and wrap snuggly again, in an hour’s time it is good, it must foam, even better. This sourdough method is my own discovery, and never have had to discard, it is always extra (good), take great care that the bucket or tin is thoroughly clean, and that you measure off the meal that your strew over, or mixed in, the sourdough must be nicely firm, otherwise it will not rise, if it is too runny.

One from Susanna Johanna Elizabeth van Hoogenhouck Tulleken’s book “Die Praktiese kookboek vir Suid-Afrika” (first published 1922).

Susanna H van Tulleken (1872- 1945)

“Soet-Suurdeeg. – Neem ’n erdekastrol. Gooi daarin 3 koppies kokende water, voeg 1¾ eetlepel sout by, strooi 2½ koppies boermeel daaroor (ongesif of gesif). Maak die deksel goed toe en sit op ‘n warm plek. Gewoonlik is dit mooi gerys die volgende more, maar as dit nie goed is nie, voeg dan ½ koppie byna kokende water by en klop goed op; ook so ‘n handjie vol meel. Strooi meel oor, en ‘n ½ uur of ‘n uur daarna sal dit goed wees. Maak die pot goed toe en rol dit in ‘n ou stuk sak of kombers, ook gedurende die nag.”
Translation:

Sweet-sourdough - Take an earthenware mixing bowl. Add three cups of boiling water, add 1 and three-quarter tablespoonsful of salt, sprinkle two and half cups of course meal over (sifted or unsifted). Close carefully with a lid and keep in a warm place. Usually it is well risen the following morning, but if it hasn’t, add a cup of water that is practically boiling and beat well; and a small handful of meal. Sprinkle the meal over and in a half an hour or hour thereafter it will be good. Close the crock well and wrap well in an old sack or blanket, also overnight.

Each of the chosen cooks had a bread recipe for what the latter two called a ‘sweet’ sourdough bread made only with salt, flour and water. Keith decided to use Hilda’s recipe, scaled down for our purposes.

This is the first blog post about the traditional Cape bread adventure. In the next installment I will share how modern ingredients compare to traditional ingredients and how it impacts on a very simple recipe.

The next chapter of our bread journey - The secrets of salt, water and flour

Click here for the Towerwater traditional Cape Sweet Sourdough Bread recipe