Special Bake of Pumpernickel Raisin Bread — Oct 3 & 4

A taste of turn-of-the-last-century Jewish New York

Back in the spring of 1977, when I was still in school studying anarchists, Russian writers, and Soviet dissidents, the pioneering food writer Mimi Sheraton authored an article in The New York Times. The piece was entitled, “A Toast to Ethnic Bakeries.” One particularly poetic line always got my attention—all the bread she described sounded good, but her phrase “pumpernickels twinkling with raisins” was hard to get out of my mind. I love the image and I love the bread! And this coming weekend you (and I) have the opportunity to pick up a couple of terrifically tasty Pumpernickel Raisin when the Bakehouse bread crew does a Special Bake!

Pumpernickel raisin bread may not be prototypical Michigan baking, but it sure is good. For those in the know, our Pumpernickel Raisin’s reappearance—even for two brief days—is cause for serious celebration. One of my own favorite Bakehouse breads, it’s a little-known-in-the-Midwest specialty that long ago won over hearts and minds in New York City. Rye—and pumpernickel—were staples of Lower East Side Jewish eating back when folks of the chicken soup-making generation were arriving en masse.

The story of pumpernickel raisin? Orwashers, the famous Manhattan bakery that Mimi Sheraton was scribing about in that 1977 essay, says the pumpernickel raisin story was started at the end of WWII, but I’ve found a few references to pumpernickel raisin bread being sold at Ratner’s dairy restaurant on Delancey Street on the Lower East Side as early as 1905. The story is that Louis Orwasher invented pumpernickel raisin in 1945 after serving in the U.S. Army as a baker! I also found a funny service story about a Jewish New York waiter who once worked at the Stage Deli, which, for some reason, refused to offer pumpernickel raisin bread. When customers would request it, the service-focused server would slide into the kitchen and personally press raisins into slices of pumpernickel bread for them! That’s what we here in the ZCoB would call an “extra mile.” (See Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service for much more on the subject.)

The Bakehouse’s Pumpernickel Raisin is particularly good spread with the terrific handmade Zingerman’s Cream Cheese. Try some with the Koeze Peanut Butter we get from Grand Rapids or the Georgia Grinders Almond Butter. The Pumpernickel Raisin is terrific toasted and spread simply with the Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter (be sure to serve the butter at room temperature!). Personally, I like the “Pump Raisin” just ripped from the loaf and eaten as is! Stop by the Bakeshop or Deli to buy a few loaves. Or have some shipped to your in-laws in South Carolina so they can enjoy what Mimi Sheraton described as “noble loaves of splendor.’