So… our Dough
Why choose sourdough and in particular, our dough?
We believe that sourdough is a process and not a taste. Taste can be as varied as the baker and depends on many elements. The process that we use creates an accessible bread for all that is soft on the inside and not too crunchy on the outside, mainly because we like to be kind to teeth as well as tummies! It isn’t sour at all so great for kids, big and small.
Creating sourdough bread is a three-day process that originated in Ancient Egypt, by accident. The story goes that a guy decided to make some beer. He left it outside in the sun to ferment, and promptly forgot about it. When he remembered, he discovered some delicious bread had materialised in place of his beer! He must have been pretty desperate for a beer though, as he tried it, but the rest, as they say, is history.
Perfected in the French bakeries and exported along with many ex-pats during the Goldrush to San Francisco, sourdough bread became synonymous with the Golden City.
In the 1940’s dry yeast was created and mass-produced in the 1950’s leading to the bread that we find on our supermarket shelves today. Loaves also have added preservatives and E numbers, and many people find themselves intolerant or sensitive to this type of bread.
The beautiful thing about sourdough is that it is completely natural and the bread only contains THREE ingredients: Flour, water and salt. The long and slow fermentation process does a lot of the digestive hard work so is naturally kinder on your tummy.
It starts with a live ‘starter’ (ours is named Betty after Joe’s Grandma, who was a creative and active soul who lived well in to her 80’s, but that’s another story!). The starter is active and ‘fed’ in order to create the natural leaven.
It took us about a year to perfect this bread-making process, with the family acting as guinea pigs. The boys both love it, and even eat their crusts. Kat, who is sensitive to gluten, has noticed that it doesn’t bloat her at all and her digestion has noticeably improved. She also says it’s “absolutely delicious and utterly moorish!”.
Don’t get us wrong, the bread does contain gluten, so is not advisable for coeliacs, but for those who do suffer from bloating after eating store-bought bread, you should definitely try it and see if you notice the difference. Please let us know if you do.
As previously mentioned, we make our bread using a three-day traditional process. Supermarkets don’t tend to use this method as it is labour-intensive but as a result, the health benefits of their sourdough are reduced and known as ‘sourfaux’. You won’t feel the benefits with this bread so much.
‘True’ artisan sourdough and fermented food has long been lauded for its health and immune supporting properties. It is rich in probiotic bacteria adding beneficial enzymes to your overall intestinal flora, increasing the health of your gut microbiome and digestive system and enhancing the immune system.