About a month back my friend entrusted me with an important task. “This is Herman,” she said, handing me a small jar. “Look after him for 10 days and feed him when he asks for food. On the ninth day divide him into four portions and share three of these with three of your friends and keep the fourth portion with you to bake the next day.”
I did as she instructed.
Now if you are wondering if I am launching into a Stephen King-like narrative, I am not. I am quite serious because, you see, by the end of day 10, what started as a very dirty looking liquid, ended up as a very yummy cake, that is popularly known as Herman the German friendship cake!
Full of raisins and apples, this yummy fruity cake is the culinary equivalent of a chain letter. Someone, in my case my friend, presents you with a jar of yeasty batter (called a starter) and a set of instructions on when to add ingredients. Ten days on, you divide the mixture into four or five, keep one of these for yourself and pass on the rest to your friends to perpetuate the friendly baking tradition that has its origins in the Amish culture.
The name Herman comes from the Amish sweet, cinnamon-flavoured bread. Airborne yeast was used to ferment a mixture of flour sugar and water, and then used to make pancakes, bread and cakes. What was left of the original starter leavening mixture was shared with others in the community to cook with. Some food historians believe that the Amish friendship cake was basically sourdough bread that is passed around to the sick and needy.
So who are the Amish, you ask? They are a group of traditionalist Christians who live very simply, wearing plain clothes, and more or less shun modern technology and conveniences. They travel by horse-drawn buggies, do not have electricity or telephones in their homes. They have a distinct attire — the men are usually bearded and wear trousers with buttons instead of zippers. The women wear white head coverings and plain dresses. Though they were originally Swiss in origin, Amish people now live in parts of United States of America and Canada.
Back to the cake or bread, you may be wondering what sourdough bread is. It is an ancient type of bread that goes back to prehistoric times. The oldest records are from the time of the Sumerians (2800BC), which clearly describe sourdough bread. Sourdough bread is made by a long process of fermentation of dough using naturally occurring yeasts and friendly bacteria (unlike the baker’s yeast). It usually has a mildly sour taste because of the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli.
To make sourdough bread or other products, you first need a ‘starter’ made of flour and water.
As it ferments, sometimes for several days as Herman did, the volume of the starter batter increases every time you add flour and water, called ‘refreshments.’
As long as you keep adding these to the starter culture, the mixture will remain active. In the case of Herman, the process lasted nine days. On the tenth day, it was baked into a delicious golden cake, which was enjoyed by all who ate it.
Nowadays, the tradition of friendship cakes is more of a fad than necessity but it still offers a great opportunity to engage in an activity with your family (by looking after Herman and finally baking it) and share in a distant yet new tradition.