Vinschgauer
Vinschgauer, properly Vinschger Paarl, are flat rye rolls from the Val Venosta in South Tyrol, baked in pairs joined along one side — hence “Paarl”, a pair. The dough is mostly rye, raised with sourdough and seasoned with the blend that gives this bread its unmistakable smell: fennel seed, caraway and blue fenugreek. The crumb is moist and dense, the crust thin. They are served with butter, speck and cheese. This is dense bread that keeps well — mountain farms once baked it in batches to last.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Dough 10 min
- Resting the dough 60 min
- Shaping 20 min
- Proving 40 min
- Baking 25 min
- Cooling 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneCrush the spices
Crush the fennel and caraway in a mortar, but not to a powder — some seeds should stay whole. Add the fenugreek.
Ingredients: 1 tsp fennel seeds · 1 tsp caraway seeds · 1 tsp blue fenugreek (Brotklee)
Fennel, caraway and fenugreek — the smell of Tyrol.Mix the dough
In a mixer bowl combine the starter, both flours, water, crumbled yeast, salt and spices. Mix with the hook for 6–8 minutes — a rye dough stays sticky and cannot be worked like a wheat one.
Ingredients: 100 g active rye starter, fed 8–12 hours earlier · 300 g medium rye flour · 100 g plain wheat flour · 300 ml lukewarm water · 10 g fresh yeast · 9 g salt
Rest the dough
Cover the bowl and leave 60 minutes somewhere warm. The dough will rise a little and turn clearly sour-smelling.
Ingredients: 100 g active rye starter, fed 8–12 hours earlier · 300 g medium rye flour · 100 g plain wheat flour · 300 ml lukewarm water · 10 g fresh yeast · 9 g salt
Divide the dough
Dust the worktop generously with rye flour. Turn out the dough and divide it with a wet knife into 8 pieces (about 100 g each).
Ingredients: 30 g rye flour for dusting
Flatten the rolls
Roll each piece in flour and flatten it with a floured hand into a disc about 9 cm across and 1.5 cm thick. It spreads further as it proves and bakes, to about 11 cm.
Ingredients: 30 g rye flour for dusting
Arrange in pairs
Set the discs in pairs on a large lined tray (about 40 × 30 cm): the two discs of a pair touch along one side, with about 3 cm between the pairs. They join as they bake and can be torn in half. On a smaller tray, bake them in two batches.
Ingredients: 100 g active rye starter, fed 8–12 hours earlier · 300 g medium rye flour · 100 g plain wheat flour · 300 ml lukewarm water · 10 g fresh yeast · 9 g salt
Two by two, touching — hence “Paarl”.Prove and heat the oven
Cover with a cloth and leave 40 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oven to 230°C (top and bottom heat). The rolls are ready to bake when the first cracks appear on the surface.
Ingredients: 100 g active rye starter, fed 8–12 hours earlier · 300 g medium rye flour · 100 g plain wheat flour · 300 ml lukewarm water · 10 g fresh yeast · 9 g salt
Bake and cool
Bake 20–25 minutes until the crust is dark and the base sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a rack at least 30 minutes — rye bread is never cut hot.
Ingredients: 100 g active rye starter, fed 8–12 hours earlier · 300 g medium rye flour · 100 g plain wheat flour · 300 ml lukewarm water · 10 g fresh yeast · 9 g salt
Cracks on top — a sign of a good prove.
Before you start
Without blue fenugreek
Blue fenugreek (Brotklee, utskho suneli) is sold in spice and Georgian shops. Ordinary fenugreek is noticeably more bitter — use half a teaspoon of it instead.
What to serve them with
Classically with butter, speck, mountain cheese and a pickled cucumber. They also suit soups and a charcuterie board.
Storage
Wrapped in a cloth they keep 3 days, frozen 3 months. Left to dry on a rack they harden and keep longer — then slice them thinly and soak them in soup.
