German-Style Wholegrain Bread

I am a German national, belonging to those folks that are known as the biggest bread-eaters on earth. We basically have bread with at least two meals per day. And that is bread according to the German definition of bread. Now, I've been living in Dubai for last few years and in South Africa before for some time. "Breads" available here and there were often not, what a German would call a "bread". Most times there have been far too fluffy, too white, too sweet. The crust too thin and too hard, the inside too soft or not dense enough, the bread tasteless, the bread not edible after day one, I could go on forever.....
Baking bread is an art in itself. However, this bread recipe is really easy and quick (read: idiot-proof) to make and that fulfills a German's requirements of a bread.


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GERMAN-STYLE WHOLEGRAIN BREAD

500g wholewheat or whole spelt flour

1 tablespoon dry yeast

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon bread spice*

50g linseed

50g sesame seeds

50g sunflower kernels

1 tablespoon apple cider (or other fruit) vinegar

450ml lukewarm water

Bread Spice

Grind the following herbs and spices in a spice or coffee mill:

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 tablespoon ani seeds

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Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the vinegar and the water and stir thoroughly. Place the dough into a lightly buttered form and put into the COLD oven. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 1 hour or 1 hour 15 min. If you want the outside of the bread golden brown and crusty and the inside not too wet, take the bread out of the form after 30 minutes, and place the bread loaf on a grill in the oven for the remaining time.