History of Sourdough:

For centuries sourdough leavening has been considered mysterious. It is nature's leavening agent.
According to one historical account, sourdough was discovered in the days of the Egyptian Pharoahs about 5,000 years ago. An Egyptian noticed that some flour he had left out in the open had become wet. Bubbles had formed mysteriously in the mixture. When baked into bread, the mixture had a lighter texture and a superior, tantalizing taste. Today, we know that wild airborne yeast fell into the open container of flour and water, causing fermentation.

There are two ways to obtain a sourdough starter: By mixing the sample ingredients together yourself or by obtaining a gift of a starter from a friend or family member. The older the starter, the more tangy the flavor. Today we can start our mixture indoors using store bought yeast. You can get a good flavor by adding commercially prepared yeast, sugar, and salt to a mixture of flour and water.

Use and replenish your starter once a week (even if you don't bake anything) This way it will live indefinitely, gaining flavor and tang as it grows older. If you are not going to use it for a while, pop it into the freezer for periods up to three months. When you take it out again, let it thaw slowly, stir in a small amount of flour with an equal amount of lukewarm water and let it sit overnight in a warm place. In the morning it should greet you with that familiar, apetizing sourdough aroma.

(We love this aroma of sourdough in the winter months. We have a wood-burning stove with a mantle above it. I sit the starter there to warm. And when I have loaves of bread to rise, I put them there to give the house a good smell of sourdough.)

Sandy