First described in 1450 as the black bread of Westphalia, the famous Westfälischer Pumpernickel is a traditional all-rye bread made with either coarsely ground rye meal or a combination of rye flour and whole rye kernels.

It can also be flavored with malt or sugar beet syrup. The loaves are placed in lidded pans and baked slowly at a low temperature in steam-filled ovens for anywhere from 16 to 24 hours, which gives pumpernickel its characteristic deep brown, almost black color. Pumpernickel has little or no crust, a pronounced earthy aroma, and a distinctive bittersweet flavor.

It is quite dense and moist, and it has an extremely long shelf-life – when shrink-wrapped, it stays fresh for months, while canned pumpernickel can be stored for as long as two years. Even though the unique flavor and texture of pumpernickel goes well with both sweet and savory spreads, the Westphalians typically enjoy it with a thick smear of butter and a topping of ham or liver sausage.