The dense, slow-fermented dark rye loaf that anchors every Latvian table, baked from a sourdough starter and sometimes flavoured with caraway, malt and honey.
Rupjmaize has been the staple bread of Latvian peasants since the medieval era, with families maintaining their own sourdough starters across generations. The dense rye loaves keep for two weeks without preservatives, a critical feature in pre-refrigeration Baltic agriculture. The Lāči bakery outside Riga revived traditional brick-oven rye baking and is still the country's anchor producer; Liepkalni runs a chain of city bakeries pushing the same heritage. A dense, sour rupjmaize is the test of any Latvian bakery's seriousness.
