Sourdough, baby.

Isolation project number 1.

These little projects that we are trying to undertake to curb our isolation breakdowns are really all in the spirit of taking things slow and hopefully getting in touch with a more traditional and natural way of life. With that in mind sourdough is perhaps an ideal place to start. It seemingly was discovered thousands of years ago by someone who was just a little too slow about cleaning up yesterday’s dough.

This is something that we have attempted before - a year or so ago. We spent a week or two nurturing the mother dough, or starter, or as we prefer to call it our sourdough baby. We gave it life and a home and daily attention, but ultimately we couldn’t find a way to fit what initially seems like a lengthy and frustrating process of actually baking the bread into our busy routine. And so, our little bubbly baby found itself neglected, unfed and died an untimely death having never reached its full potential.

Things will be different this time. Plenty of time and a mostly free schedule are two things we have suddenly found ourselves in possession of. The other ingredients required are water and some organic wholegrain flour, the latter of which is something our local Waitrose hasn’t yet been entirely stripped of. In terms of what to do with said ingredients, I’m following the advice of Joshua Weissman. He’s a chef who makes brilliant instructional cooking videos on YouTube. Here’s the video I’m using (https://youtu.be/sTAiDki7AQA). For Day 1 its a simple matter of mixing 100g of flour with 150g of water and then…waiting…

I’ll post updates on how our sourdough baby progresses and the wonderful bread, pizzas and who knows what else that will follow. For now, patience.