Bread is one of the most beloved and hated foods of all time! On the one hand it’s the sustenance of live, while also the cause of great pain (gluten intolerance) and potential death (gluten allergy/celiacs disease).
Modern culture is out to cancel bread…saying it’s inflammatory, fattening and full of that dreaded gluten! Gluten free alternatives line our grocery shelves in an attempt to give us that satisfying loaf without the unfortunate side effects.
However, this anti-bread movement seems to be absent in historical and traditional cultures. Millions of people around the world eat bread all day everyday with little to no intestinal problems. They thrive on this nutritionally dense, energy sustaining, culturally unifying food source.
So why are there these two extremes?
And is bread inherently bad or have we played a part in its demise?
My mother never let me have white bread growing up. Instead she’d serve me an avocado and sprout sandwich on this dark, moist, seedy, wholegrain rye bread. I hated it! All I wanted as a kid was strawberry jam or Nutella on fluffy bleached white slices.
Now as an adult, I can appreciate the complex flavour and texture of a wholegrain sourdough loaf. It’s one of my favourite treats.
“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” - James Beard
Unfortunately, most people (even adults) are hooked on the nasty, nutrient deficient, make you bloat till you croak stuff. Although the more financially affordable; they are paying the price with their health, and missing out on a world of flavour.
“How can a nation be great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?” - Julia Child
Since the industrial revolution, we have slowly adulterated and perverted the life-giving bread we so heavy rely on. The fact that we call it the bread ‘industry’ highlights the truth that bread has become an efficient and economic commodity, rather than a healthy and sustainable way of life. Bread has become almost unrecognisable to its original form.
Traditional Bread verses Modern Bread Industry:
Grain grown locally and organically VS grain grown globally with chemicals.
Multiple grains used, providing a variety of nutrients VS wheat grains mainly used, limiting nutrient variety and increasing gluten exposure.
Wholemeal flour (bran kept in flour) high in nutrients and fibre VS bran removed resulting in removal of nutrients.
Flour long fermented using traditional leavening agent (sourdough) providing increased nutrient bioavailability, prebiotics and probiotics VS packet yeast skips the long fermentation process.
Over the decades, we have systematically stripped bread of its nutrients, fibre and digestibility; while simultaneously increasing its chemical, caloric and gluten content.
However, instead of allowing bread to become victim to ‘cancel culture’…we have the opportunity to take responsibility for our food and implement choices that can have huge beneficial affects on our health and wellbeing.
Consider Choosing:
Organic/pesticide free
Wholegrain (e.g. rye, spelt, barkey, oats, amaranth, quinoa, millet, sorghum, and teff, maize, rice)
Wholemeal (bran included in flour)
Traditional fermentation (sourdough)
We can implement all of these choices when we make sourdough bread at home!
Sourdough Health Benefits
Sourdough has been a popular research subject for decades. It’s nutritional profile (e.g. increase in starch and protein digestibility, vitamin levels and mineral bioavailability) and health-promoting properties (e.g. reduction in gluten sensitivity and gastrointestinal syndromes, and improved gut microbiota regulation) is due to the fermentation process facilitated by lactic acid bacteria and yeast.
Grains used in bread making contain a group of pro-inflammatory proteins called α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors (ATIs) that mature the grain, facilitate protein storage and act as a self-defence mechanism against pests (that includes us humans). Consuming these ATIs can induce mild intestinal inflammation, disturb tight junctional integrity, and promote extra-intestinal diseases like allergies, the metabolic syndrome, and fatty liver disease.
Lactic and acetic acid bacteria present in sourdough fermentation break down these ATIs, reducing the pro-inflammatory response and the cultures pH from natural too acid; increasing the digestibility of proteins, breakdown of gluten and increase of free amino acids. These bacteria also help to delay gastric emptying, reduce post-meal glycaemic and insulinemic responses, and increase starch digestibility.
Sourdoughs microbial diversity transform this most basic of foods into a nutritionally dense, prebiotic and probiotic power house. Ultimately bringing life back into bread!
The health benefits of sourdough are enough to convince any novice cook/baker to give sourdough a go. Unfortunately even with all the Youtube videos, varying methods and advice, sourdough can still be a tricky skill to master.
It’s hard not to get discouraged…but be patient and keep trying new techniques until you find one that works for you. There’s a lot to learn! I’m discovering something new every day.
As part of your sourdough education, I want to share with you three ‘pain points’ I’ve struggled with and somewhat overcome. Hopefully they help you navigate this wonderful world of sourdough.
1. Sourdough Starter
“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.” - The Sound of Music
You can’t make sourdough without a sourdough starter (aka mother culture).
You can buy sourdough starters or make your own by cultivating the wild yeasts on the grain and in your home. Sounds delicious, right? Don’t worry, it’s safe and simple to do.
Most newbies don’t realise that there are three different ways to maintain a sourdough starter: Normal, Liquid or Stiff. Most of us use the ‘normal’ starter method which consists of feeding equal parts water and flour, letting it sit on the bench to ferment, using or discarding part of the starter, then feeding it again. And the cycle goes round and round, until you realise you’re sick of feeding that dam starter, and you are discarding a lot of flour and money in the process.
So you have two options: I recommend using both!
Either you use your starter every day in delicious discard recipes, or save and store your discards in the fridge.
Convert your ‘normal’ starter to a ‘stiff’ starter (aka dry or dough starter). Keep it in the fridge (no need to feed it or discard part of it) and just use it when you feel like baking.
I personally love ‘discard’ recipes (especially sourdough pancakes) so I keep a ‘normal’ wholemeal wheat starter on the bench throughout the week and either use it every day or collect the ‘discard’ to use all at once during the week. When I’m busy over the weekend or am going away for a few days I’ll just give it a last feed and pop into the fridge for a well deserved holiday.
As a backup and for other flours that I use far less frequently (e.g. rye, spelt), I have ‘stiff’ starters that I let hibernate in the back of my fridge until I’m brave enough to experiment with them.
There are a heap of methods for maintaining and storing sourdough starters (just search google or Youtube) that all work well, it’s just a matter of preference. Creating and maintaining a ‘stiff’ starter is just one method that I personally prefer.
Here are a few different methods:
Create dry sourdough starter
No feeding, no discard starter
What is a ‘dough’ starter (desem)?
Dry einkorn sourdough starter
Question: Do you use or know of an alternative method to caring for your starter?
Please share your advice and recommendations in the comments, I’d love to learn more!
2. Sourdough Discard
“Sourdough isn’t discard until you discard it.” - Zero Waste Chef
If you're maintaining a ‘normal’ sourdough starter it will double in size after every feed. To avoid growing a monstrous amount, it’s wise to remove part of it and only feed a small amount (roughly one table spoon) left in the container. If the portion you remove is ‘active’ (bubbly & doubled in size), then you can use it to in all sorts of baking. But if it’s sat out on the bench a little too long (has become inactive and deflated) or you're not too keen to invest the time in making recipes that require fermentation and proofing, instead of discarding the leftover starter you can use it in heaps of quick and easy recipes (aka sourdough discard recipes).
Making discard recipes in the best way to get familiar with sourdough; it’s taste, texture and interactions with other ingredients. It’s a learning opportunity that allows you to save money and results in variety of delicious treats.
Experimenting with a few pancakes is far less risky than investing time, hope and energy into a bread loaf that come may come out flat and dense (resulting in a similar affect on your enthusiasm).
Sourdough ‘Discard’ Recipes:
Side Note: If you neglect to feed your sourdough starter it may produce a greyish liquid on top…I like to call it ‘hungry hooch’. Don’t freak out, your starter hasn’t died, it’s just a little undernourish. You can either pour off the hooch or stir it back in and give the poor thing a good feeding.
3. Sourdough Bread
Once you’ve played around with sourdough discard recipes for awhile, you’ll probably be biting at the bit to attempt a sourdough bread loaf. By all means go ahead and give it a go.
Unfortunately, in my experience, it’s much harder than it looks. I still haven’t mastered it, not by a long shot!
What I have discovered is that you don’t have to make Instagrammable loaves to enjoy delicious sourdough bread!
Before attempting a loaf, I recommend trying a few of the following recipes:
Take these recipes as an opportunity to learn about ‘crumb’ and ‘oven spring’ and ‘tensioning’. They require an active starter and varied fermentation times, so it’s a great opportunity to learn how to read the signs and stages of sourdough baking.
Just like sourdough being a slow fermentation process, allow your learning to take on a slow cultivation. We all want that perfect loaf to share on social media or take to a gathering, but in rushing the process of learning you increase the chance of failure, discouragement and giving up, along with missing all the other wonderful ways to incorporate sourdough into your life.
Delicious Recommendations
Sexy, scrumptious and sour Insta accounts
Commercial loaves are dead…rediscover real bread
Cottagecore sourdough focaccia
What professional bakers name their starter
Cultural Heirlooms
“Bread – like real love – took time, cultivation, strong loving hands and patience. It lived, rising and growing to fruition only under the most perfect circumstances.”
- Melissa Hill
Although you can easily make a sourdough starter at home, there is something special in being gifted one from a beloved friend, family or stranger.
Like little children that grow and strengthen over time, a thriving starter will mature and improve in flavour as it receives the love and care that it requires.
The idea of sharing yeast and bacteria with someone sounds a bit strange, but it encourages conversation and community; also providing a handy backup plan if you ever accidentally kill your own mother culture.
I’ve heard of sourdough starters being handed down through decades and generations. And although it isn’t necessary to have an heirloom starter to make great bread, it is such a beautiful representation of love and generosity, prompting you to think of that person every time you feed that little bubbly jar of flour, water and microbes.
Question: What kind of healthy heirlooms have you received (fermented cultures, healthy habits, recipes)?
Question: What healthy heirlooms would you like to pass on to others?