Sunday, November 13, 2011

bread of the month | anadama bread

anadama bread
November is the eleventh month. And this is only my fifth Bread of the Month post. Bread of the Month is going to have to become Bread of the Week if I want to have baked 12 loaves by the end of the year. So much for that goal!

This month I baked Anadama Bread. I first heard it mentioned in a book I was reading a few months ago. One of the great things about reading e-books on my iPad is that I can do a quick google search if I read about something unfamiliar. I'd never heard of Anadama Bread and I was curious. It turned out to be a bread made from cornmeal and molasses. I particularly liked the myth that explained the origin of the name - that the bread's name came from a fisherman cursing his wife by exclaiming, "Anna, damn her!" I was intrigued by this tale and the cornmeal-molasses combination.

A New York Times recipe for Anadama Bread popped up during my search and I bookmarked it so I could try making this bread myself. I am a big fan of anything with cornmeal in it, though the molasses component had me a little nervous. Molasses kind of grosses me out. It smells like prune juice. The color of the bread dough once the molasses was added was...rather unappetizing.
anadama bread
But the bread turned out great. Slightly sweet - it tastes a lot like Honey-Wheat Bread. And after making buns, rolls, and flat breads, it was nice to bake an actual loaf this month. Five down, seven more to go! (And only six weeks left in the year!)

Oh, and here's a behind-the-scenes shot of what really goes on during a food photo shoot in my house. My subject matter is always being threatened:
anadama bread

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