Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sourdough

I have enjoyed eating sourdough for some time. Ever since I worked as a Head Chef, near the popular organic Judges Bakery in Hastings- I have been familiar with this rather unusual process of making bread.
There was a time, when all bread had more substance, was slightly heavier in texture. Many breads, today, are almost too light and have so many unnecessary ingredients added to them. We could get technical about this and discuss the Chorley Wood process- however, I am not a baker and will leave that for some-one else to explain.
My understanding is still limited.
Initially, I was a little nervous about how to go about creating a starter, often referred to as a mother or chef. Sometime ago I was first introduced to Emanuel Hadjiandreou, when he was the Head Baker at Judges Bakery. He now works for the School of Artisan Food, Nottinghamshire and recently published a book- How to make Bread.
His explanation of how to make a starter was so straight forward and avoided so many of the off-putting terminology that I had found on other websites and books- that yesterday, I finally began.
Emanuel instructs to place 1 tsp of flour in a clean clear jam jar with 2 tsp of flour and stir. Fix the lid and leave out at room temperature.
Repeat this process- adding 1 tsp of flour and 2 tsp of water every-day for 5 days.
On the fifth day, you should notice bubbles of CO2 appearing on the surface. This is what will help your bread rise.
At this point you will be ready to use your starter to bake your first loaf of bread. Why not join me? Today is Day 2. Early next week, I will up-date this with how I am getting on, accompanied with the full recipe for White Sourdough.
You may also be interested to look at the following blog (they have been lucky enough to attend several days training with Emanuel at the School of Artisan Food)-
Note: I am using Doves Farm organic White Flour. Emanuel uses Shipton Mill organic flour. You could use any flour I think. However, I believe that it is worth sometimes seeking the best ingredients and investing in producers who care for the Earth and the food that they source.

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