Rēwena bread
Potato starter bread
Rēwena parāoa: Māori potato-starter sourdough
Rēwena parāoa is the bread of Māori marae and family kitchens across Aotearoa New Zealand, served at hui and tangi with boil-up, butter and golden syrup. Its rise comes from a fermented potato starter, the bug, which families keep going for years. The loaf has a soft, close crumb with a mild tang and a crusty top. Making the bug takes 2–3 days, so plan ahead. A common mistake is using hot potato water, which kills the starter; it must be lukewarm. Chef's tip: feed the bug with a little potato water and flour each time you bake and it will keep in the fridge for months.
- Total time
- 100 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the potato bug (starter)
- 1 floury potatopeeled and sliced
- 1 cup water
- 4 ½ oz plain flour
- 1 tsp sugar
For the bread
- 1 ⅓ lb strong white bread flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 cup lukewarm water
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (1)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Boil 1 floury potato in 1 cup water until very soft. Mash it in its water and leave until just lukewarm, about 86°F.
20 minStep 2: Stir in 4 ½ oz plain flour and 1 tsp sugar to a thick paste in a clean jar or bowl. Cover loosely with a cloth.
5 minStep 3: Leave in a warm spot for 2–3 days, stirring once a day, until bubbly and smelling pleasantly sour and yeasty.
1440 minStep 4: Mix 1 ⅓ lb strong white bread flour, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda. Add the bug and 1 cup lukewarm water and mix to a soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and springy.
10 minStep 5: Shape into a round, set it in a greased 23 cm cake tin or casserole, cover and leave in a warm place for 3–4 hours, until risen by half.
240 minStep 6: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan). Bake for 50–60 minutes until deep golden and hollow-sounding underneath. Cool on a rack before slicing.
60 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 210 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 44 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does rēwena bread take?
- About 100 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of floury potato?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
SalufPuffy flatbread
Saluf is the everyday bread of Yemenite Israelis, slapped onto a hot pan or taboon in Rosh HaAyin and Sha'arayim in Rehovot and eaten with marak temani, hilbe and zhug. It is soft and blistered, thicker than pita and with no pocket, made to tear and dunk. Home cooks often roll it too thin, which gives a cracker; it should be about 1 cm thick so it stays pillowy. Chef's tip: cook it under a lid on a very hot dry pan for the first minute, which traps steam and puffs it the way a taboon does.
Israeli
ChipaCheese bread rings
In Paraguay you hear 'chipa, chipa!' called by vendors with big baskets on buses and street corners, and every family bakes it for Holy Week, when chipa is the food of Good Friday. Cassava starch, a little cornmeal, butter, eggs and a lot of hard cheese are kneaded into a dough scented with aniseed, shaped into rings or small rolls and baked in a hot oven, traditionally a domed clay tatakua. It's chewy, crisp outside and best warm with cocido (toasted yerba tea). Chef's tip: the dough should feel soft and slightly greasy; add milk a spoon at a time, as too much makes the chipa spread flat.
Paraguayan
Akki rottiRice flour flatbread
Akki rotti is the breakfast of Bengaluru and the old Mysore country: rice flour mixed with grated vegetables, dill, coconut and green chilli, patted out thin by hand straight onto a cold pan, then cooked until speckled and crisp at the edges. Every home has its own mix; dill (sabbasige soppu) is the classic flavour, but cucumber, carrot or fenugreek all turn up. It is eaten hot off the pan with coconut chutney or a dab of ghee and spicy chutney powder, and it is naturally gluten-free. Chef's tip: work with two pans in turn, patting the next rotti onto a cooled pan while the first one cooks; patting onto a hot pan burns your fingers and gives an uneven rotti.
Indian