Sunday, November 15, 2009

Air Capture

It's relatively easy to buy decent bread in the UK these days, so I never got round to making my own when we lived there. Not so in Japan, where 6 slices of nondescript soft white costs an astonishing ¥200 or thereabouts, and there is nothing that comes close to Tesco's malted bread.

Eventually I got around to baking my own bread, which was reasonably successful - but I've always enjoyed sourdough bread, especially when visiting places like San Francisco where it is very common.

So a couple of months ago, I mixed up some flour and water and left it sitting around in a warm place...


...and this is what appeared! Well actually, this is now a few generations down the line from the original Kamakura sourdough starter. It's amazing what can be pulled out of thin air. I'm not sure it really tastes like Boudin's but it's better than nothing.

3 comments:

Nosmo said...

you can good yeast mixing flour and the rinse water from washing organic grapes.

James Annan said...

I'd heard of tricks like that. But before trying to catch more wild strains I am tempted to invest a whole dollar in a reputable starter.

Nosmo said...

If you keep the commercial strain going it will change over time to something that will survive best in your area. If you use San Francisco Sourdough it will only taste that way over the long term if you keep the stain alive in San Francisco.