Upplandskubb

Appearance & taste

Upplandskubb is gingerbread brown to greyish brown and has no crust; the rounded edges are relatively even and soft. It is baked as a cylinder 16 to 23 cm in diameter with a volume of 2 to 8 litres, which is cut lengthwise into four parts. The slices therefore have the shape of a quarter circle with an angle of about 90 degrees.

The texture is fine and compact, the inside firm, slightly sticky, with small cavities, grainy and crumbly. The aroma is of low to medium intensity, slightly sweet and sour like rye, with traces of syrup and a slightly burnt yeast aroma. The bread tastes sweetish with clear notes of syrup and cereal, distinctly of rye, not very salty and not very sour, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. It is sold fresh or deep-frozen.

Production

The rye and wheat must be grown in Uppland and stone-milled or roller-milled there. The rye flour is a coarse, unsifted wholemeal flour with all parts of the grain; the wheat flour may be sifted or unsifted. Traditional light or dark syrup is used for sweetening; bread syrup and black, white or bakery syrup are not permitted. The flour may be enriched with vitamin B and contain ascorbic acid (E300).

Flour, syrup, water and yeast are kneaded into a dough, which rises for a long time at a low temperature. Then the cylindrical mould with a lid is placed in a covered water bath, and the bread bakes for a long time at a low temperature. Traditionally, tin cans, milk bottles, milk churns or milk jugs with lids served as moulds. The bread is then wrapped in a baking cloth for 10 to 24 hours before it may be cut; this way it cools slowly and loses less moisture. According to the specification, how flour, water, mould size, rising and baking time fit together is knowledge passed down over generations along with the baking equipment.

It is baked and labelled in the area; cutting and packing may also take place outside it, but cut slices must be packed immediately. The label gives the baking date and, where applicable, the freezing date.

Origin & history

Uppland lies in eastern Sweden and covers 12,738 km². It is a gently rolling landscape with fertile clay soils in the interior, moraines on higher ground and long eskers from the Ice Age; the highest point is only 113 m above sea level. Rye has been important here since the Middle Ages: around 1570 it accounted for 33 to 50 per cent of the cereal area, in some places more. According to the specification, Uppland is considered the first area of Sweden to grow rye, probably introduced from Finland, because rye tolerates drought well and German immigrants in the nearby capital wanted it for its baking and storage qualities.

From the Middle Ages into the 20th century rye bread was the most important bread in the region, while the everyday bread was hard crispbread. Upplandskubb was baked at Christmas as something special for farm workers and later also for townspeople, and contained the much more exclusive wheat flour. The domestic science school in Uppsala, founded in 1895, included it in its recipe collection and made it known nationwide as a regional bread. According to the specification, it is often on the menu when foreign delegations visit the county administration in Uppsala. For the application, about forty people were interviewed about recipes, traditions and memories.