Image from Yankee Magazine online – Granny’s Brown Bread – Recipe at the link
BROWN BREAD.
I’m a Yankee, born ‘mong the rye and corn
Of the Eastern States, ’tis said;
And a tribute I’ll pay, in a rhyming way,
To their loaves of good brown bread.I’ve lived at best, six years in the West,
Where wheat is used instead,
But in all my round I’ve seldom found
A loaf of good brown bread.Since I have roamed to my boyhood’s home,
The rocks and hills I dread;
Yet in spite of that I’m growing fat,
Every day, on good brown bread.You still may make white bread and cake,
By style and fancy led,
But I tell you, sir, that I prefer
A loaf of good brown bread.N. E. Farmer.
The Berkshire County Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachustetts) Oct 22, 1858
*****
Here are a couple of old recipes found in a Google book search:
Yankee Brown Bread – 1848
To read about the “pearlash” mentioned in the above recipe: Food Facts & Trivia
Apparently, in 1848, they did not steam the bread, but baked it in the oven. This recipe also lacks molasses, so I guess it’s a more “primitive” brown bread.
Boston Brown Bread – 1893
This recipe includes buttermilk and molasses, and is steamed for five hours. The Granny’s Brown Bread linked with the picture, only steams for two to three hours.
Tags: 1848, 1858, 1893, Boston Brown Bread, Brown Bread, Poetry, Recipes, Yankee Brown Bread
