You can't buy this bread in stores. Well you can, but it's hard to find. And usually a little expensive. Unless you know a guy. Or maybe if you live near San Fransisco.

Mmm something's baking in the oven? What is it? Delicious, wholesome bread!

But it isn't just any bread. You can't buy this bread in stores. Well you can, but it's hard to find. And usually a little expensive. Unless you know a guy. Or maybe if you live near San Fransisco. The taste is to die for, it's special, once you try this bread they say you can't go back to store-bought loaves. Some say the dough used to bake these special loaves is hundreds of years old -- dough passed down from generation to generation. It even has legendary life-giving, health-restoring properties, containing special enzymes which the body needs to help it break down food but which are otherwise quite rare. In fact it is said that it helps with diabetes and even people who can't eat wheat gluten can easily digest this type of bread.

So I decided to start my own tradition. I put in a cup of flour and a cup of water and I mixed it all up. I put it in a glass bowl and put a damp drying towel over it like I saw my mommy doing a long time ago. The next day I poured half into a new bowl and added a half cup of water and a half cup of flour to both bowls. To one of the bowls I added a tablespoon of liquid fructose and an ounce of lemon juice. I mixed both bowls and set them again using slightly wet dry-cloths.

And.. tomorrow is another day..

Love sourdough... used to make it regularly at home. There are starters to be had at grocery stores or online, or (as usagi is doing) yeasts can be collected from the environment. Your flavors may vary. (usagi: you might consider setting your bowl outdoors.) If done well, no additional baking yeast is added, but rise times will be longer.

There are challenges to a good sourdough loaf. How much to knead; how long to rise; oven environment. My failing was that I was never able to get that thick, hard crust of a good Bay Area baguette.

Oh, and don't forget to try some of your starter in sourdough pancakes (or waffles).

Love sourdough!

(Someone once accused us my household of being too yeasty -- we were making our own breads and brewing our own beer at the time.0

I've heard that some of the special quality of San Francisco sourdough is due to the local environment: sea air, fog, mild temperatures, etc. It's like the terroir of wines, something you can't exactly duplicate somewhere else. I love SF sourdough but I'm happy to experience the "terroir" of other locales.

I don't know much about it myself but my wife says this is the case. We have not bought store bread in years. All that we eat is made at home from grains which are ground fresh just before the bread is made. I am not talking about a bread machine - each loaf is individual and different. She has tried to make sourdough but with limited success. It tastes sour but not like San Francisco sour. She is convinced that it is all a matter of the yeast you have in the local environment. Still the bread we eat is infinitely better than anything you can find in a store.

Bake Bread Play Go
Our talented breadmaker, Chris K., will be giving a lesson on breadmaking at the Go Center this Saturday from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m., October 30. There will be time to play Go as well.