eac@drux3.UUCP (CveticEA) (04/12/84)
In regard to sour dough bread -- there is really no great mystery. Sour
dough starter can be made by starting with a yeast mixture and letting
it stand at room temperature for a few days (see Joy of Cooking for exact
details). If you don't want to do this, you can get powdered sour dough
starter in San Francisco (my mother sent me some). You mix it with flour
and water and let it stand in the refrigerator. Every time you take some
out to make bread, you add enough flour and water so as not to deplete
your starter. It will last in the refrigerator for weeks. Joy of Cooking
has recipes as does the packets of dry starter mix. It is so easy
to do I have always failed to understand how San Francisco manages to
keep its monopoly on sour dough bread!
Betsy Cvetic
ihnp4!drux3!eac
303-538-3406
P.S.--if anyone would like the exact instructions for making the starter, and
the basic bread recipe (i.e. you don't have access to Joy of Cooking, even
though you should) let me know and I will get you a copy (of the recipes that
is). By the way, I think Joy of Cooking is one of the best cookbooks I
have ever used. Highly recommended!ed@unisoft.UUCP (04/22/84)
While it is true that sourdough bread can be made anywhere, it's also true that the region is important to the result. What makes sourdough bread unique is the culture that inhabits the starter. The culture is rapidly taken over by the local bacteria, regardless of where the starter originated. That's why San Francisco is sometimes regarded as the home of the best sourdough in the world. -- Ed Gould ucbvax!mtxinu!ed