Ivory’s culinary memory is impressive. I served this bread to her and another friend, alongside some tomato soup, ten years ago, and she has remembered it ever since. She recently suggested I make some for the blog.
It takes three days to get the “sponge” ready, so you have to do some advance planning. I doubled the recipe below because if I am going to spend 3 days making bread I am going to have at least 4 loaves to show for it. Feel free to do the same. This is a milk-free version.

Peasant Bread
makes 2 loaves

1st day
1 medium potato
1 1/2 cups water
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
1 cup whole wheat flour

2nd day
2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F.)
1 cup bread flour
1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour

3rd day
1 T. salt
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour, plus or minus

Day 1
Scrub and pare the potato. Cut into several chunks and place in a small saucepan along with the 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and boil until the potato is tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool to just above room temperature (about 110 degrees F.). Measure out 1 cup of the cooking liquid into a large mixing bowl (if more than 1/2 cup boiled away, add more water to make 1 cup). Save the potato for other uses. Add yeast to the warm potato water and let it soften. Stir until dissolved. Add whole wheat flour and mix well. Cover with waxed paper and a towel and allow to stand at room temperature for about 24 hours. It will look like this:

Day 2
Uncover and add the warm water. Stir in the 3 flours. Cover it back up and let sit for another 24 hours.

Day 3
Uncover again and add the salt and, in stages, as much of the remaining flour as you can. You may add perhaps another 1/2 cup of flour or more if the dough is too sticky to work. Various factors such as your flour, the humidity, etc. can make this an inexact science, so use your own judgment. Once you have stirred all you can, knead the last of the flour in with your hands. Knead 8-10 minutes, adding additional flour as needed, until you have a firm, elastic dough. At first it will look all ropey and impossible like this:

But keep going and soon it will look like this:

Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl, turning to coat the top in oil. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for about an hour until it has doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down and turn out onto a floured surface. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a round loaf, pulling the dough tight, pinching the bottom seam under the loaf.

Put the loaves on an oiled baking sheet or parchment paper-covered baking sheet.

Cover lightly and leave to rise once more until nearly double. This may take 30 minutes or more, depending on the temperature. A good place to get your dough to rise is in a home-proofing oven.

Slash the tops of your loaves with a sharp knife, making 3 or 4 cuts about 1/4″ deep.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven, 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown, crusty and sound hollow when tapped. Brush with olive oil for a softer crust, leave plain for a crustier one. Cool and slice.