Paper Palate

Hello, my name is Madeline and I am addicted to sourdough bread. Living just 90 minutes away from San Francisco means that I can get some amazing sourdough in my regular grocery store. I can also make a quick weekend trip and get some Acme Bread Co. sourdough at the Ferry Building, then eat it while watching the ferries come and go. Blair Anthony Robertson of the Sacramento Bee has a solution for you unlucky souls who don’t enjoy these luxuries - you can make your own sourdough.

All you need to make sourdough bread is salt, water, flour and the mysterious sourdough starter. Hopefully you end up with “a blistered crust with a firm, crisp chew, a crumb with large, irregular holes and an overall loaf loaded with flavor.” Robertson makes the astute observation that “Sourdough bread is simple, but it isn’t easy.” You can say that again.

True sourdough bread is made with wild yeast, not yeast that can be found in packets and jars in the grocery store. So how does one acquire wild yeast?

“A starter can be made simply by mixing flour and water and letting it sit for days on end, with periodic feedings along the way. Because some of the bacteria come from the surrounding air, starters from different regions tend to have slightly different characteristics of flavor and leavening ability. True San Francisco sourdough bread is supposed to use a starter that originates in the city, complete with its distinct bacteria, Lactobacillus sanfrancisco, which food scientists first identified in the early 1970s. That starter gives the bread its tangy taste.”