Sourdough Starter

Sunday, October 22, 2006
Sourdough Starter
I baked my first loaf of bread when I was fifteen. It was for my tenth grade art class banquet. I made the wheat soy sesame bread from Diet for a Small Planet and it came out perfectly. Round risen golden loaves with the ultimate perfume. I was hooked and have been baking bread ever since. A few years ago I decided, reluctantly, to cultivate a sourdough starter. Since I've got no patience for house plants I was skeptical. But I kept this jar of pale mud in my fridge and basically I left it alone. If I was baking bread I'd use a blob of the starter and replenish it. Over time I'd lose track of it but it didn't die. I was secretly disappointed. I didn't want another thing to have to maintain. I continued to use it and replenish it, making bread with an occasional blob. The instructions say if three weeks have gone buy without using it throw out a blob and replenish it so it won't sour to death. I can't throw anything out, so I keep making bread with a sourdough blob thrown in. Years have gone buy and the taste of the starter has developed into a deep sour, giving the loaves an amazing flavor that develops over the week as we eat it; it gets better rather than going stale. I can't break the culture of yeast now! I realized this jar of starter has been keeping me baking bread. Maybe that’s the real reason why they call it starter.