RYE VS. SOURDOUGH by Jenny Coates

In bread bars all across America, this age-old question is still being argued over right this very minute.

We've all been there at one point or another. Sitting at a table with a few friends, casually chatting while sampling a platter of the latest bread imports; comparing the fluff, tang and malleability of each brand.

Then it happens.

Across the room, a debate gone sour escalates into a full-scale argument. The shouting match quickly divides the room, being such a heated topic few can claim to have no opinion what with all the incidents, accidents, and unfortunate mishaps perpetuated by both sides.

All those lives lost to THE HOLY WAR OF BREAD.

I, myself, am of the sourdough camp, but I think the time has come for an unbiased look at the opposing viewpoints. First of all, the Peoria Wheat Heist of '54 was never actually proven to be linked to the Official Sourdough Party, but, for the sake of argument, we will assume that some splinter party which claims allegiance was involved.

But The Rye Faction was not always the helpless victim. Everyone heard the confessional tapes played at the hearing for what is commonly referred to as "Flour-Gate". True, only two of the "Bread-impics" were proved to be fixed, but one has to wonder how deep the pockets of those Bread Billionaires are, and how far they will go to win.

The feud has been going on longer than most people can remember. It has turned brother against brother, mother against daughter and in one high-profile squabble, the Pope against the Church. I, myself, lost a step-uncle during the Rye-iots in the '70s.

It all began back in the early 1800s when a young French baker invented a new type of bread. It had a unique tanginess to it and grabbed the world by the taste buds and shook them a little. Because of that sour tang, and because it was made with dough, people referred to it as sourdough.

This new flavor quickly became the latest trend, and bumped Rye off its perch as #1 on the Breadbox Charts. Rye went through a bit of a slump after that. The Rye Faction was apparently caught off-guard and ill-prepared for the new yeast product in town.

They managed to make a comeback with their release of New Rye in 1867, but the resentment never went away. It was not until the Caraway Seed drought of 1874 that things escalated into the feud it has become.

The Rye Faction retaliated by buying up flour mines across the nation and slowly choking off the supply to Sourdough factories. The Sourdough Party countered by dressing up like Indians and raiding warehouses owned by the Rye Faction,looting all the flour they could carry and torching the rest.

This was the last straw for both sides and a Bread War greater than any that came before erupted. It was chaos. Sourdough Intelligence searched houses for any hidden rye-related products. The Rye Squad bribed merchants to boycott their adversary's goods.

These sabotage attempts continued back and forth until President Carter put an end to the feud with his Yeast Summit Treaty.

Since then the violence has stopped, healing and grieving is being done on both sides. But the argument has yet to be settled.

Jenny Coates is a founder and a Sr. Correspondent for Yeast Magazine. Her first book, The History of Bread, has recently been published by Manka Books.