Caraway, fennel and other spices in bread

Caraway, fennel and other spices in bread

Bread has always been a staple food and to make it more digestible, the classic bread seasonings are used.

• Anise,
• Fennel,
• Coriander
• or caraway

are added to the bread either individually or mixed differently, depending on the recipe. They are responsible for the taste of the breads. In the case of sourdough breads, the long rising time also ensures the typical flavor development.

Proven combination of four

Caraway seeds refine bread and make it more digestible. Because the aromatic spice promotes digestion and relieves flatulence and bloating. Because of its effect, caraway is not only used as a bread spice, but also to season hearty dishes such as roast pork and co. Due to its high content of essential oils such as carvone, for example, caraway has a digestive effect, relieves cramps in the gastrointestinal tract and helps with flatulence. In addition to carvone, caraway also contains abundant limonene, a monoterpene found in many herbs and spices. Similar to anise, fennel tastes slightly sweet and makes the bread more digestible. The seeds may have slightly woody fibers, which can be somewhat unpleasant when biting into bread. Therefore, fennel seeds should be ground finer rather than coarser. The seeds are rich in essential oils such as.

• Anethole Menthol,
• Estragole,
• Fenchon,
• limonene as well as terpinolene.
• Two essential oils, anethole
• and Aniseol,

are the ingredients that determine the effectiveness. Anise is very rarely used individually in bread, as it has a spicy-sweet taste and is somewhat reminiscent of cough syrup. Bread classics, such as the Christmas sturgeon bread, are flavored with aniseed. The seeds have an antispasmodic effect and help against flatulence. The ingredients are similar to fennel seeds, two to six percent of the ingredients of anise are essential oils, mainly trans-anethole, which is responsible for the taste and smell of the seeds. Coriander is a component of many bread spice mixtures, but its positive effect on digestion is weaker than fennel or caraway. But it is the mixture of the four spices that tastes so good and mutually reinforces the effect, coriander seeds should always be freshly ground or mortared, because otherwise the aromatic substances evaporate very quickly and what remains is an undesirable, slightly bitter note.

Fennel, anise and caraway drunk as tea are also very good for colds, because they relax not only the digestive system, but also the respiratory muscles and thus help especially with coughs.

Freshly ground

The spices are best bought whole and crushed in a mortar just before use, otherwise they lose flavor and also effect. How finely, the spices are crushed, depends on personal taste. For a loaf of bread with half a kilo of flour is calculated no more than 15 g of bread spices in whole, if the spices are ground, already half the amount is enough.

Bread clover

Here in Austria, bread clover is relatively unknown, but it is a typical bread spice that is often used in South Tyrolean Schüttelbrot, in rye breads or in Vinschgau flatbread. Due to the intense flavor bread clover is used sparingly. Often only a pinch of a knife is used for about 300 to 500 g of bread dough, because otherwise the bread is quickly over-seasoned. The dried leaves of the clover species are used, which are responsible for the intense bread flavor, but here the focus is only on the taste. This spice does not have a positive effect on health – especially on digestion – but it is well suited for mixing with the four classic bread spices in almost homeopathic doses.