Wow February already, Spring is on its way! Though with yesterday being clear and bright as the traditional rhyme goes for Imbolc/Candlemass, we may have more cold to come yet, but who knows.
Bread has a hard time these days, most of it, even the bakery sort is often far removed from its origins which has created problems for some, but there is a return to artisanal methods for many bakeries and more people making there own, maybe for you too - and what is wonderful about that is, there are just so many methods to share and bread made with a culture and grains as nature intended, really can be a thing of nourishment on so many levels.
Just to start with the sour dough culture itself…… brings me onto the wonder of microbes, the world of which I am likely to write often, about their myriad ways of influence, and how they hold so many keys to wellbeing….
How the culture forms and which microbes establish, comes down to so many factors. The health of the grain used in the initial batch, where it was grown, how fresh it is, and then the process used to get it going plus the environment in which that takes place.
This young life form then establishes as it’s added to and used over and over and continually matures into a being of place, the nature of which is very much determined by the particular care it receives. Microbes are pretty frequency sensitive too, so love certainly helps them thrive!
It is actually extremely hard for it to die once established especially if kept in the cold. Its nature will change, and if neglected for too long, by which I mean ignored for 2 weeks or more, might need reviving, but brought out into the warmth and fed, it springs back to life much like we do !
My method is a feed once a week or so, a few hours before I make my bread and to let it stay dormant in the fridge in between times, never throwing any away ! I have never been able to adopt that throw away method as it just seems too much of a waste to me and I doubt if that was how our ancestors did it, though admittedly they were probably making it more frequently. If its gone longer than 2 weeks one needs to rebalance the lactic acid microbes with the acetic microbes with 2 or 3 feeds but so far – even when I moved and it got really neglected I have never found it without life or gone horrid or anything like that and its in its fifth year now. Many cultures are handed down over generations !
Certainly now that mine is exposed to a different environment its microbial make up will change as the air infiltrates during the feeding and making process as well as when I change flours though I try to use local when possible. This is why with all ferments you want a healthy environment, but it does mean that wonderful thing of eating something which becomes ‘of place’, which is so good for us.
Microbes anchor us to our home, people and nature around us. This is especially important when growing up but continues to be so and taking care of our inner and outer environments strengthens us and the two become connected over time. A live cultured bread is one lovely way to enhance that.
I, like most of us never seem to have enough hours in a day so I also don’t spend much time making the actual loaf. Nature does most of the work and gone are the days of kneading for me! A cultured dough requires gentle handling. I have experimented with more effort and less effort depending on the time available and I have to say in my experience there is not much difference in the result and that most effort seems to be more about ritual and desire for contact with it, plus to feel you have put the work in, rather than it being strictly necessary.
Many purists will be up in arms and I certainly am not saying it makes no difference, if you want to turn some into pizza dough which is stretchy, some working of it certainly helps, but my point is that it doesn’t need to be laborious or even very precise for that matter. Simple is good.
And magical! Flour and water, which would become glue on its own, add the wonder of nature’s beneficial microbes, a bit of celtic sea salt, time and heat and you are gifted a delicious, sustaining, wonderful food which is easy to digest and full of nutrients. I use organic, Rye in the starter and a mix of Enkir and Spelt or Wheat plus some Oat sometimes for the dough. I also make sure to use spring water or well-filtered water. Beneficial microbes don’t much like tap water. The starter lives in its own vessel and I never use metal implements, much like for the enzymes in honey, beneficial microbes prefer
It never ceases to delight, and I like the element of surprise which the endless opportunities for creativity and variations to suit your diet can bring. Another lovely thing is that it is so easy to increase your starter quantity to give to a neighbour or family, so its easy to spread the fun!
If you would like a ‘Recipe’ with a few more details do let me know in the comments below.