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You would be amazed at the number of people who don't
know what Sourdough bread actually is. REAL Sourdough bread
is synonymous with Natural Leaven breads. And what does
that mean?
To explain it in a very down to earth/folksy fashion!
All "yeasts" exist in a wild/natural state; in the air we
breathe and living on the grains that we process and eat.
The "yeasts" that are used in a true sourdough system mainly
(about 90%) come from the grain. However about 10% are airborne.
At some time it was discovered that a certain species of
wild yeast was very powerful in its action, and worked more
quickly to rise the bread and prepare it for baking. As
with so many good discoveries, mankind isolated and selectively
cultured this good thing; and carried on until they'd created
a monster!
Commercial bakers yeast (Sacchorimices Ceriviceae) works
FAST! And that means it doesn't do the job as Nature intended.
Now what about the other yeasts? Let's call them, the "wild
yeasty critters": The organisms that God (or selective evolutionary
processes if you are a Darwinist) placed on the grains we
eat. Grains from different regions of the world have different
yeasts, that produce slightly different flavours, but more
importantly live on that particular grain because that is
where nature intended them to be. There are also other micro-organisms
that partner the yeasts on the grain. They are able to completely
break down the grain (pre-digest it) - and they're NOT in
a hurry!
By using the 'monster' - commercial baker's yeast - you
KNOW exactly how long it will be before the bread rises
to the point where it's ready to bake, and you don't have
to wait around, watching and smelling a leaven! … taking
it's temperature and so on. With Sourdough … it's a bloody
tedious and testing process to make a successful leaven.
You're at the mercy of ambient temperature, age of the leaven,
making the correct flour to leaven to water ratio etc. And
you just have to bloody well wait until it's ready! This
added time (at Sol Breads a minimum of 15 hours) insures
that the 'pre-digestion' process is complete. (Complex Starch
sugars broken down into simple sugars, proteins being broken
down and other processes that makes it much easier for our
human digestive tracts) If you take a bite of Sol Breads
and pay attention, you'll notice that the mass in your mouth
will fairly quickly liquefy as you chew. With regular yeasted
bread you'll always end up with a lump that has to be swallowed.
That's because the healthful work of 'pre-digestion' hasn't
been done for you by those 'wild yeasty critters' - nor
has the savvy and artistry of the Sol Breads' baking staff
been utilized!
"Fake" Sourdough Bread: There are a
number of chemical and natural flavour additives that will
give a bread, baked with commercial Baker's Yeast, a "Sourdough"
flavour. There is also a process whereby you can use very
small quantities of commercial yeast, and still allow the
time for natural fermentation … but this takes a real Master
Baker to insure that enough time is allowed for the 'pre-digestion'
- which is so valuable in Sourdough - to occur.
To Be Sure! … Sol Breads rely totally
on our friends - the 'wild yeasty critters' *** For those
of you who are convinced that you are wheat intolerant:
Have you ever tried a genuine Sourdough? Although it's true
that many folks in the Western World have developed intolerance
to wheat, it's also true that a certain percentage can tolerate
a 'genuine' sourdough. ***
If you are indeed wheat intolerant, then try our
wheat free range
Written by our fabulous Northern NSW distributor
- Jim Midgoll
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