Bob’s Blog: Musings on Bread
All about Sourdough
Saturday may just be my favorite day of the week at the bakery, because it’s when we feature all of our sourdough breads on one day. They do not contain any commercial yeast and are leavened naturally with wild yeast. I grew the levain in 2011 using figs from my back yard. It was a fairly simple process that just took a bit of time and patience. I've nourished and used it to create every loaf of sourdough bread since.
Yeast spores, a living organism, flourish everywhere and are indigenous to the region in which they inhabit. I transferred the yeast spores from the figs by soaking them in water and then using that water to create the levain. It took a few days to create a thriving culture of spores capable of leavening, and I nurture the culture daily with water and wheat flour.
I use this culture to make our signature loaf, the Duck Island Sourdough, and our Italian Sourdough made with durum wheat. I also use it to leaven the Kalamata Olive Bread and our Apricot-Cranberry-Walnut Sourdough Bread. I've got some other ideas for its use in new products that are currently in development stage, so stay tuned.
Rye is Rad
Friday is Rye Day* at the bakery when we offer Onion Rye and a seeded Rustic Rye. The foundation and soul of both styles of bread is a a rye sourdough culture that was born in Germany in the 1980s. This culture is a living organism which is nurtured twice a day with feedings of whole grain rye flour and and filtered water. It is very acidic in nature, and adds authentic flavor to your bread. It also combats a naturally-occurring phenomenon when water is introduced into rye flour called the "starch attack". I won't bore you with the chemistry. Suffice to say if made without the sourdough culture, it can turn a delicious loaf of rye bread into a gummy doorstop. Our Rye Breads are authentic sourdough breads, made without additives. There are no conditioners or preservatives. They are prepared for you using traditional bread making techniques, and made the way bread was made to be.
*Given the nature of our old world production methods, it is nearly impossible to produce every style of bread every day. We are following a schedule on which certain bread will be available at the bakery.
What is purple potato bread, anyways?
Purple Potato Bread is back at the bakery, and for now it will be available on Thursdays. This is a soft, tender bread with a dense crumb that makes it a wonderful addition to any meal or snack. Purple potatoes have a lower glycemic index than other potatoes and are rich in antioxidants. I've reformulated the recipe to include our new King Arthur Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat flour, which will add even more nutritional value. I'll be hydrating the ingredients with organic beet juice and finish it off with a bit of Rosemary.