Secrets of S.F. Sourdough

							                                                                             Secrets of S.F. Sourdough
                                                                                                                 Who Knew?


                                                     W        e take a slight departure from the       that give the bread its characteristic San       European breads made with the traditional




                                                                                                                                                                                                             Sourdough
                                                              usual format of this column to ex-       Franciscan taste. Naturally, once this species   method. In the Bay Area, however, it’s hard to
                                                     plore something uniquely San Franciscan:          was discovered and identified, it was given       escape the fact that local French and Italian
                                                     sourdough bread. It is a quintessential icon      the name Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis.         artisan breads still taste a little like typically
                                                     of the city by the Bay, inescapable as you              Traditionally, starters were maintained    San Franciscan sourdough, since Lactobacil-
                                                     walk down Fisherman’s Wharf. We all know          for long periods of time, and only small por-    lus sanfranciscensis is everywhere! As such,




                                                                                                                                                                                                             WHO KNEW?
                                                     about it, we’ve all eaten it, but how many of     tions of them (along with extra flour and wa-     you can try your luck at creating your own
                                                     us really know why San Francisco sourdough        ter) were used to make bread on a daily basis.   homemade sourdough starter. All you need
                                                     is so special?                                    These “established” (or stable) starters would   is flour, water, patience…and a home in the
                                                           Most people are probably familiar with      become more flavorful with age, and because       Bay Area helps.
                                                     the main ingredients in bread: flour, water,       of their acidic nature, were highly resistant
                                                     salt, and yeast. The yeast metabolizes sugars,    to spoiling. Some bakeries in San Francisco
                                                     broken down from starch via naturally oc-         today claim to have starters originating from    LOUIS-BENOIT DESROCHES is a graduate student in
                                                     curring enzymes, producing carbon dioxide         the Gold Rush era!                               astronomy.
                                                     (among other byproducts). This allows the               Of course, some bakeries cheat a little
                                                     dough to rise and bake into the fluffy goodness    by mixing in baker’s yeast or other additives    Want to know more?
                                                     we know and love as bread. Most commercial        to boost the sour flavor while keeping rise       Check out: exploratorium.edu/cooking/
                                                     (and homemade) breads use baker’s yeast, a        times short. At the same time, there has         bread/recipe-sourdough.html

                                                     special strain of yeast that is fast-acting and   been a rise in the popularity of “artisanal”
                                                     can produce oven-ready bread dough in
                                                     exceptionally short times.
                                                           Sourdough bread has one other major
                                                     ingredient: lactobacteria. These bacteria
                                                     feed on some of the yeast byproducts, and
                                                     in turn produce lactic acid. The acidic
                                                     nature of this mixture protects the yeast
                                                     by inhibiting the growth of foreign, hostile
                                                     bacteria, and also provides a sour, tangy
                                                     taste.
                                                           In medieval Europe, bread was made
                                                     by leaving flour and water outside, which
                                                     allowed natural yeasts and lactobacteria
                                                     from the flour and air to settle in the mix-
                                                     ture (called a starter). Yeast accumulating
                                                     in this natural process took a long time
                                                     to metabolize sugars, and flour and water
                                                     were periodically added (or “fed”) to the
                                                     starter to keep it alive. Individual loaves of
PHOTO BY ELISA WEBER./DELLA FATTORIA, PETAULAMA CA




                                                     bread could be made by adding flour and
                                                     water to small portions of this starter. Thus,
                                                     breads from places like medieval France                                                            (above) Sourdough bread from Della Fattoria, an
                                                     and Italy were, in essence, sourdoughs.                                                            artisan bakery in Petaluma, CA.
                                                     Differences in taste between breads made
                                                     in different places were due to different                                                          (left) Della Fattoria head baker Aaron Weber
                                                     strains of local lactobacteria that found                                                          loads three-pound loaves of French country
                                                                                                                                                        sourdough into a wood-fired brick oven.
                                                     their way into the starters.
                                                           Sourdough made in the Bay Area still
                                                     uses this very method, with its longer rise
                                                     time and natural, local lactobacteria. The
                                                     punchline: The indigenous strain of lacto-
                                                     bacteria produces the specific byproducts


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