What we have come to believe, from all the information we have gathered, is that salt rising bread originated because of the dedication and ingenuity of the early pioneer women. In the rugged mountains of Appalachia, these women were isolated, surviving only with what they had on hand. For bread they needed baker’s yeast. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the one source for baker’s yeast would have been the local brewery. It’s likely that these women developed a yeastless bread because beer yeast was either not available for bread-making or not approved of among the many evangelicals living in these mountainous regions.1
Could our answer be as simple as that – that these early American women, out of necessity to make a risen bread, discovered that a mixture of flour and water left alone in a warm place would become bubbly after several hours and would work as a leaven for their bread? As J.C. Furnas states (somewhat inelegantly) in his exhaustive historical study, The Americans: a Social History of the United States, “salt rising bread evolved by some backwoods housewife possessed of wheat flour but no yeast.”
We feel confident in saying that the story of salt rising bread begins in the early pioneer days of Revolutionary-era, pre-industrial United States. The earliest recipe we have found comes from West Virginia in 1778. We have seen other recipes from the 1700s that are very similar to salt rising bread, though not called salt rising, or salt-risin’, salt risen or salt-raisin’.
When the original Colonists came to America to start a new life, they brought plant seeds and roots with them from the Old World. They quickly found that the native peoples here had much to show them about indigenous plants never seen outside of this new land, particularly the growing and use of corn – an ingredient, interestingly, that is used in making authentic salt rising bread. Initially, these new plants were not well understood by the Colonists. It would take time and several seasons for them to learn which conditions brought about plentiful produce. And then there was the process of how to incorporate these new foodstuffs into their diet, which led to the creation of new recipes that reflected their European food knowledge and preferences, adapted to this new environment.
Salt rising bread recipe, handwritten by Katheryn Erwin.
Life on the American frontier. The reality of these new pioneers’ lives was often harsh, filled with failures, sickness and conflicts with the Native Americans. Yet, by the end of the 1700s, life on the American frontier, including the large region now known as Appalachia, had proven to be a successful and quite bountiful venture. In many ways, the average person during this time lived better than his or her counterpart elsewhere in the world.2
There was plenty of meat to hunt, corn and grains to harvest, and squash and beans deliciously prepared to whet the appetites and diversify the daily meals of farmers and their families throughout the seasons.
The women who originally made salt rising bread were from an era that was very close to nature, organic in all of its composites and daily activities. It was an era when individuals had to be in tune with the world around them for their own safety and survival. These women knew the rhythm of the seasons, their gardens, and the fires they kept. They watched their oven fires closely and were experts at feeding the embers to make a hot fire, or spreading out the glowing cinders to cool the temperature.3 They also kept close vigil over their doughs, so as not to lose the fermenting microbes or waste valuable ingredients.
The pioneer women who discovered that they could “raise” bread dough without yeast may not have understood how it happened, but they seized the moment and repeated the process until they perfected it. And they shared. The success of this rural life depended on neighborliness and community. Later in the book, we’ll see examples of how salt rising starters were shared in these early homes, and into the 20th century. Through hard work and dedication, these women made this well-loved bread for their families and, in so doing, passed on its precious knowledge to future generations.
The Migration Movement of Food. As families outgrew their land space or opportunities, they set their eyes on western horizons. Expansion across the Mississippi began in the early 1800s and continued for the next century. And their food traditions migrated west with them. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, when families had re-assembled after the Civil War, farming and rural living continued to be an esteemed way of life. County fairs were established, celebrating the locally prepared goods. Many farms thrived, benefitting from early mechanization and the burgeoning large-scale agriculture. The farming life seemed to portray what was virtuous about the United States, promising a life of independence as well as security. The men farmed and hunted while the women prepared food and kept a welcoming home. Life was simple, but considered to be noble and good. It was a time that has been seen as defining the American character. A nostalgic time.
Excerpt from a Mormon family’s history of their early life in Utah:
. . . Both Alvira and Drucy loved to bake, especially their famous hot salt rising bread. Drucy “usually got the starter going, then passed a cup of it around to the other women in town and there would be a regular bake day. We always knew when she was baking bread. We could smell it blocks away,” said Alice.4
Our book honors these early pioneer women who persevered out of necessity as they were challenged to feed their families from their surroundings. More than simply a compilation of recipes, baking techniques and serving suggestions, with this book we wanted to capture the voices of people who embody a previously unheralded Appalachian tradition.
In the chapter that follows, you will meet Pearl Haines, as we learn (or attempt to learn) how salt rising bread got its name – the next mystery on our list.
1 Reginald Horsman, Feast or Famine: Food and Drink in American Westward Expansion. Univ. of Missouri Press. 2008
2 David B. Danborn, Born in the Country. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. 1995
3 Danborn, ibid.
4 William Jasper Henderson and Alvira Aurelia Dickson: a Family History, by Shelley Dawson Davis, p. 20, 2014
TWO
How the Best Toast in the World Got Its Name
Featuring Pearl Haines of Mount Morris, Pennsylvania
In 1922, at the age of 5, I began making salt raisin’ bread in a wooden bowl that my family had been using for generations. My great-grandfather, Thomas Wade, made the bowl in 1869 as a wedding gift for his son’s wife. The bowl is still used in the family today to make salt raisin’ bread. No one ever washes the bowl, they simply scrape it clean after making the dough. I believe my family had made salt raisin’ bread as far back as the 1830s or ‘40s. The cornmeal-milk recipe that I use was taught to me by my mother, Ethel Fox, born in 1886, who learned it from her mother, Cassie Wade, born in the 1850s. Cassie learned how to make it from her mother, born in 1831. When we could get it, my great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and myself, all