Rye (secale cereale)
Rye is a very hardy crop that will tolerate slightly acid soils and poor weather conditions and so have been widely grown in colder northern regions. The crop is often as tall as a man is and the grains are darker than wheat with a greenish tinge.
Rye grain produces dense, close textured breads with distinctive characteristics. In Viking times harvesting and storing grain in their inhospitable climate was difficult so rye would be threshed and made into flat cakes with a hole in the middle allowing their unleavened bread to be hung up for storage.
During the seventeenth century mixtures of wheat and rye were often planted in the same field so that depending on the weather one or the other would yield well. In a fine dry season the wheat would flourish and in a cold damp season the rye would do better. The resulting crop would be taken to a local miller and ground into flour known as maslin flour.
Rye breads have remained a traditional fare in Germany and Scandinavian countries and are enjoying a revival in Britain. Rye flour produces dense sticky dough so it is often mixed with wheat.
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