Eastern Europe, from Germany east, is home to a great, diverse bread baking tradition. The tradition is built around a less commercialized, more craftsman way of creating breads and other foods, a great deal like what we see in the Italian Slow Food movement. Many of the great breads we know and love have come from this area: bagels, bialys and some babkas come to mind.
In particular, Daniel Leader’s “Local Breads,” which is subtitled “Sourdough and whole grain recipes from Europe’s best artisan bakers,” has quite a few recipes from eastern Europe, many made with ryes and the sourdough process.
I’ve posted a few recipes from this area and will be posting more in the near future, so be sure to stay current.