My Rewena Bread

I have finally settled on a way that I make rewena bread.  It still doesn’t have a strong yeasty flavour, more like sourdough if I’m completely honest, and most likely because I don’t bother to keep any dough to replenish the bug.  I always make the rewena bug from scratch, but I’m still quite happy with the outcome.  Maybe if I am lucky enough to one day come across and learn from a rewena bread expert, my recipe might change.  Until then, I’ll just stick to the following recipe and method.  Depending on whether I keep the bug in the hot water cupboard or on the bench, makes a difference as to whether the bug is ready for use in 24 hours, or 48 hours.  The following recipe makes two loaves.

Rewena Bug

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized potato, sliced
• 2-3 cups water
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• lukewarm water, on hand

Method:

1. Cook the potato in the water.
2. Once cooked, set the pot aside until the water is luke warm.
3. Mash the potato, add the sugar and plain flour and combine to a thick, stiff, yet gluey texture.
4. Transfer the mixture into a large glass jar and cover.
5. Leave  in a warm place until the mixture forms bubbles and doubles in size.
6. Then the bug is ready to be used.

Rewena Bread

Ingredients:

• 5 cups plain flour
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• rewena bug, approximately 500 g or thereabouts
• 350 mls  water
• ½ – 1 cup of plain flour

Method:

1. Combine the first lot of flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre of the bowl.
3. Add all of the rewena bug.
4. Use a wooden spoon to combine the dry ingredients and the rewena bug.
5. Add the water to the mixture in two lots, combining the water thoroughly with the mixture each time.
6. Use some of the second lot of flour to dust the bench.
7. Turn the mixture from the bowl onto the bench.
8. Start from the outside of the mixture, gently bring the mixture into the centre of itself.  Keep dusting the bench and the top of the mixture with flour, until you’ve brought the mixture together enough to form a dough.
9. Gently knead the dough for no more than 10 minutes.
10. Place the dough into the greased bowl.  I use either a cast iron casserole dish or huge glass bowl.
11. Cover and place in a warm place to prove.  I usually leave the dough for 2-3 hours.
12. Remove the dough from the bowl, and punch the dough to remove any air bubbles.
13. Gently knead for a further 2 minutes.
14. Cut the dough in half and place into two greased loaf tins.
15. Cover and allow to prove for a second time.  This can be anywhere between 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours.
16. I use a pair of kitchen scissors to make huge cuts across the top of the entire bread.  I do this to try and counteract any ‘blowout’ in case the bread hasn’t proved enough.  This isn’t exactly foolproof, but it helps.
17. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
18. Bake the bread for approximately 35-45 minutes.
19. Use a skewer to test that the bread is cooled.
20. Turn the bread out of the loaf tins onto a wire rack.
21. Allow the bread to cool before slicing.