Rewena bread Rewena bread Rēwena parāoa (literally, "leavened bread," also spelled rewana) is a traditional Māori sourdough potato bread. Rēwena means both "bread made with potato yeast" and "the process of fermentation that causes bread to rise." The Maori word for potato, 'riwai' (sometimes spelled 'rewa'), is the root word of rēwena. Rēwena bread uses a pre-ferment starter, also called a ‘bug.’ It is created by boiling and mashing potatoes, then adding flour and sugar. Kumara, or sweet potatoes, may also be used. The mixture is then allowed to ferment from one to several days, depending on the ambient temperature and humidity.
Sliced bread was also intended to counteract a rise in the price of bread, caused by the Office of Price Administration's authorization of a ten percent increase in flour prices. In a Sunday radio address on January 24, New York City Mayor LaGuardia suggested that bakeries that had their own bread-slicing machines should be allowed to continue to use them, and on January 26, 1943, a letter appeared in "The New York Times" from a distraught housewife: I should like to let you know how important sliced bread is to the morale and saneness of a household. My husband and four children