farmer's bread  1 cup sourdough 2 cups (½ l.) lukewarm water 3 well-filled cups (400 g) rye flour In a mixing bowl, stir flour, sourdough and water into a smooth batter. Cover tightly and let stand at room temperature overnight. This starter can be left for up to 20 hours. The longer you leave it the stronger the typical sourdough taste. This is a very heavy bread so the starter should be left for at least 12 hours.   6½ cups (800 g) rye flour 3 well-filled cups (400 g) wholewheat flour 3 heaping tsp sea salt 2 tbl caraway 1 tbl coriander seeds 1 tbl aniseed 1 tbl fennel seeds ½ tbl ground cardamom seeds ca. 3 cups (¾ l.) water—hand warm 1. In a large (and when I say large, I mean large) mixing bowl, mix the rye, wheat, salt and spices together. Remove one cup of the sourdough and return it to your original sourdough. Add the rest of the sourdough to the flour. Stir in the water (I hope you got a large bowl) a little at a time. When you've got everything well-mixed, turn the dough out on to a kneading board and work up a sweat. Sprinkle the mixing bowl well with flour and return the dough. 2. Cover the bowl tightly and let the dough rise from 3 to 6 hours. How long depends on how warm it is (place the dough in a drought-free spot) and the quality of your sourdough. The dough should have visibly risen quite a bit and “bounce back” if you poke it lightly with your finger. Turn it out on the board again and knead it lightly for a few minutes. Form the dough into a round loaf and put it in a well-floured round bread form and cover. (If you haven't got a bread form place the dough on a non-stick baking sheet and cover it with the mixing bowl. This prevents the bread from flattening while its rising.) 3. Let the dough rise for 45 to 60 minutes. Now it's time to prove how well you know your oven. I usually use the falling heat method for baking bread. That means putting the bread in a very hot oven for about 20 minutes and then reducing the heat. You need to heat the oven to 480° F (250° C) so turn it on soon enough. Place a small container of water—about a cup— in the oven about 5 minutes before you put the bread in. This provides steam which aids the bread in its rising process. 4. Turn the dough out on to a non-stick baking sheet and brush it quickly with water. Sprinkle on some caraway seeds and using a fork punch a lot of holes all over the dough. Put the bread in the oven near the bottom and bake for 20 minutes at 480° F (250° C). After 20 minutes remove the water and reduce the temperature to 375° F (190° C). Let the bread bake for another 60 minutes. 5. Turn the heat off and leave the bread in the oven for another 15 minutes. Take the bread out of the oven, place it on a  rack and brush it once again with cold water.   Now the most difficult part of all: let the bread cool out for at least one day before slicing. back