Kommissbrot, formerly Kommißbrot,
is a dark type of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
bread, baked from
rye and other flours, historically used for military provisions.
Description
Kommissbrot is a
dark bread made from rye and wheat flours as a
sourdough
Sourdough or sourdough bread is a bread made by the fermentation of dough using wild lactobacillaceae and yeast. Lactic acid from fermentation imparts a sour taste and improves keeping qualities.
History
In the ''Encyclopedia of Food Microbio ...
. It has a firm but not hard crust, and because it is normally baked in a loaf pan, it develops a crust only on the top.
[ It is noted for its long shelf life.
]
History
Since the 16th century, ''Kommiß'' has been used as a word for a military troop, and so ''Kommißbrot'' was used to mean the bread provided for the military, since ''Brot'' is the German word for bread, and it came to be used to denote the type of bread.[
The nutritional value of kommissbrot was studied by Prausnitz in 1893 and by Wenceslaus Plagge and Georg Lebbin in 1897.]World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when sawdust was sometimes added to compensate for shortages of flour, and in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.[ A study by M. Gerson in 1941 concluded that kommissbrot covered the daily requirements of vitamin B1.
Following World War I, it became available in civilian bakeries, and the recipe was changed to produce a softer bread.][
]
In popular culture
In the 1920s, the Hanomag 2/10 PS
The Hanomag 2/10 PS is an economy car manufactured by Hanomag from 1924 until 1928. It was one of the first cars with envelope styling. It was affectionately referred to as the ''Kommissbrot'' ("Army Bread") due to its identical shape with the usu ...
compact car was given the nickname Kommissbrot because its shape resembled a loaf of that bread.
In the Austrian documentary film ''Cooking History'' directed by Peter Kerekes, kommissbrot is used as an illustration of the quantity of ingredients required to provide food for a large number of soldiers.
See also
* Borodinsky bread
Borodinsky bread (russian: бородинский хлеб ''borodinskiy khleb'') or borodino bread is a dark brown sourdough rye bread of Russian origin, traditionally sweetened with molasses and flavored with coriander and caraway seeds.
Prepa ...
References
{{reflist, 2
Sourdough breads
German breads
Military food
Rye breads