Solid Guinness: Russian Borodinsky rye bread (бородинский хлеб)

here are only two countries in the world that use live yeast for commercial bread-baking: Austria and Russia. This kind of bread can cause minor stomach problems for first-time visitors but luckily there are also more regular kinds of bread on offer.

However, I was brought up on the old-fashioned kind. In my childhood, sweet-tasting Borodinsky rye-bread with coriander-seed-encrusted ears was a favourite treat. Its earthy aroma and heavy dark brown are like nothing else in the world. If anything at all, it is very much like solid Guinness.

These days friends occasionally bring a loaf from Moscow. It's much lighter on rye now, perhaps, to appeal to modern tastes and I can't feel but cheated in a way. It goes well with a slice of Cheddar or with smoked capelin roe and cucumbers. Last time I fixed it with slices of pheasant-and-pear sausage, French black pepper mustard and what can you do without cucumbers!