Sourdough: The 6,000-Year-Old Living Culture
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Origin
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Description
Sourdough bread — leavened by a symbiotic culture of wild yeast and lactobacillus bacteria rather than commercial yeast — is the oldest form of leavened bread, with evidence dating to ancient Egypt (approximately 4000 BC). Every sourdough starter is a unique microbiome — the specific combination of yeast and bacteria varies by geography, flour, water, temperature, and the hands of the baker. San Francisco's Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis (identified and named for the city in 1971) produces the tangy, assertive sourness that defines SF sourdough — but every bakery, every home, every starter has its own microbial fingerprint.
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The Thread
—Ethiopian injera (wild-fermented teff batter — the African sourdough), Indian idli/dosa (fermented rice-lentil batter — the Indian sourdough), Georgian tone bread (baked in a clay oven with natural le
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Flavour Context
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