Sourdough!

By Jeff Logullo Saturday, April 10, 2004 Who likes sourdough bread? (Ooh, look at all the hands!) Well, I certainly do. And making sourdough bread is a sufficiently involved process to attract me like a junebug to a porch light. Sorta like brewing beer and all that. So far I've been using a homemade starter, which in no way is the same as making true sourdough bread. But hey! It's been fun. I have been making "cheater" loaves in the bread machine (1/2 cup of starter for flavor), and for the last big family get-together I actually used my starter alone (no extra yeast) to leaven a round San Francisco-style loaf. It wasn't bad! I got a request to do a few loaves for Easter dinner this year, and I decided it's time to Get Real with this. Too late for Easter, but I broke down and ordered an authentic San Francisco starter from Sourdoughs International. Somewhat pricey at $14 but there's no doubt that you're getting the Real Deal. What's really cool is this one: there once was a kind gentleman named Carl Griffith who had a starter that had been in his family for 150 years. He would send starters to anyone that asked, no charge. Although Mr. Griffith has passed on, there's a group of volunteers that are keeping the dream alive... take a look at the Carl Griffith Sourdough Page for more information.

If you're really interested in learning about making sourdough, there's a lot of helpful information available (google!). I do like books, however, and I can recommend Classic Sourdoughs by Ed Wood, which is available from Sourdoughs International.

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