Has anyone here ever attempted to make homadama? It’s a type of bread I was unfamiliar with until I was introduced to it by a local bakery, and I am borderline obsessed. It has a wonderful, moist & flavorful crumb, and a dark, toasty crust. It appears to be a twist on the New England anadama loaf, which I’ve also never heard of (until just now, when I was looking for links).
https://www.instagram.com/lostbreadco/p/DAtziqQpCxi/?img_index=1
From Bread Toast Crumbs by Alexandra Stafford:
“The story goes like this: Long ago in Massachusetts, a fisherman, tired of the cornmeal mush his wife, Anna, would pack for his daily lunch, took matters into his own hands. While cursing, ‘Anna, damn her!’ he added yeast and molasses to his mush, tossed it in the oven, and baked what turned out to be a legendary loaf.
Though lore surrounds its name, anadamas consistently include two ingredients: briefly cooked (sic) cornmeal and a healthy dose of molasses, which stains the crumb gingerbread brown and makes it slightly sweet. Whole-wheat or rye flour often makes up a portion of the dough, too.
The anadama method – soften grains in boiling water, then mix with a blend of white and whole-wheat flours --” (and then the rest discusses her book’s recipes).
I vaguely recall “anadama” being referred to as an early “hippie bread,” maybe in the book Cheers to the Publican (which has some great bread recipes that I’ve enjoyed).
Bread Toast Crumbs has three breads that use the anadama method; she calls them “heartier” than her other breads. I find the basic breads in this book a little “blah,” but now that you’ve mentioned it I did always mean to try her Bulgur Bread, which is one of those 3 recipes.
Obviously the “origin story” is just for fun, but perhaps it’s a starting point if you’d like to learn more about the bread style.
Wow, thanks so much! I almost fell for the origin story until I read to the end hahaha.
This one isn’t sweet, thankfully. But it toasts up beautifully and is lovely ‘raw,’ too.
Off topic, but wondering why you added the (sic).
Bread machine anadama was interesting and tasty, as I recall - it’s been a while
Never heard of Homadama but I make Anadama fairly regularly.
Here is a Pix of the last Loaf
Well, apparently I was taught by someone who also used unnecessary hyphens in these constructions (briefly cooked), because according to Meriam-Webster, I’m wrong and it shouldn’t be “briefly-cooked.” At least it’s a common error, and the articles shows examples of the unnecessary hyphen in print. I stand corrected.
Even more off-topic, the last point in the article I linked about overusing “zh” for “j” in foreign words is interesting. I’m as guilty of saying “Tazh” Mahal as I am of using a hyphen in an -ly/adjective/noun construction.
I wondered whether that was why, but yeah, you are/were in plenty of company, including lots of instances I’ve seen in (theoretically) edited published material. I have also been guilty of mistaking ‘zh’ for a hard ‘j’ in some words. A friend with lots of China experience schooled me on Beijing. In my defense on adagio, I first encountered it pronounced that way by my childhood ballet teacher, who was classically trained and was in a professional company, so I assume that’s how she encountered it.
We have done it a few times and there are different versions of it, e.g. with or without sourdough starter etc but I think this version from ATK isn’t a bad starting point. (Though I have to admit I found most bread doughs which include molasses not that great - it gives them an unusual aftertaste)
I noticed Serious Eats has a recent writeup:
Interesting. Although this looks very different from the loaves we bought.
