sourdough bread

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Sourdough bread is native to the U.S. (particularly the west coast and even more specifically the Bay Area; you can find it easily on the east coast but it's not so common to, for example, be able to get sourdough toast in a restaurant, which I didn't realize until Mr. Lifelong Californian Elvis Telecom pointed it out).

Does sourdough exist overseas as well? I don't remember ever hearing any of you "Britishes" mention it.

― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 18 August 2005 00:37 (twenty years ago)

don't like it

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 18 August 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)

(oh yeah, and as i pointed out on one of the ethiopian food threads, the much-dreaded injera is basically just crepe-shaped sourdough.)

― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 18 August 2005 00:45 (twenty years ago)

ts: sourdough bread vs buttermilk biscuits.

― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 18 August 2005 01:40 (twenty years ago)

I'll take sourdough over the biscuits.

― Ian Riese-Moraine: a casualty of social estrangement. (Eastern Mantra), Thursday, 18 August 2005 01:41 (twenty years ago)

Good, more biscuits for me.

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 18 August 2005 01:44 (twenty years ago)

Sourdough is the best bread ever. If Europeans can't get it in their markets then they simply have no culture.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 01:46 (twenty years ago)

i hate it. especially "sourdough french." fuck that noise.

― tehRZA gibbons (tehresa), Thursday, 18 August 2005 01:46 (twenty years ago)

I like what they call "sheepherder's bread" out west. I guess it's sourdough with a softer texture...?

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 18 August 2005 01:54 (twenty years ago)

One of sourdough's finer, however mainstreamed and "Kazaam"-affiliated, moments: Burger King's Shaq Pack. Bacon cheeseburger on a sourdough roll. Out. Standing.

― Werner Herzog Eats His Sourdough (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Thursday, 18 August 2005 02:31 (twenty years ago)

The real deal is a west coast thing... it has something to do with wild yeasts that float around. I've had it back east and it sucks.

― andy --, Thursday, 18 August 2005 17:47 (twenty years ago)

Sourdough is the best bread ever. If Europeans can't get it in their markets then they simply have no culture.

Does Momus like sourdough?

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 18 August 2005 17:48 (twenty years ago)

SO GOOD

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 18 August 2005 17:49 (twenty years ago)

It is my toast of choice.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 18 August 2005 17:50 (twenty years ago)

used to love it, now I hate it, like most american bread, honestly. hard and dry, where is the love in these loafs?

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 18 August 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

Best when filled with clam chowder.

― The Ghost of Dean Gulberry (dr g), Thursday, 18 August 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

yeah i've been caning it since i moved to the bay

a fine bread

big up monterey jack too

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Thursday, 18 August 2005 18:08 (twenty years ago)

Sourdough is one of the oldest style of breads around as it's one of the few risen breads that requires no processed yeast. It was made in ancient Egypt even, so, native to California? no. a good bread? Sometimes, toasted it's gorgeous, but for sopping up a juicy stew? nah, much better a baguette or something else more porous.

― Porkpie (porkpie), Thursday, 18 August 2005 18:49 (twenty years ago)

There's an Egypt in California

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Thursday, 18 August 2005 18:51 (twenty years ago)

it ain't ancient though is it?

― Porkpie (porkpie), Thursday, 18 August 2005 18:54 (twenty years ago)

"sourdough" is native to california. i don't doubt the egyptians had a similar methodology for their breadmaking though.

― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 18 August 2005 18:57 (twenty years ago)

c.f. bird's-nest soup

― M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 18:58 (twenty years ago)

that's a bit funny

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 18 August 2005 18:59 (twenty years ago)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sourdough

Ahem.

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 18 August 2005 18:59 (twenty years ago)

shit, I meant thousand year soup

― M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:01 (twenty years ago)

Actually, I take that back -- the wiki isn't very helpful about the non-US history. This site is better: http://www.angelfire.com/ab/bethsbread/WhatisSourdough.html

"Way back in ancient days (around 6,000 years ago, some say) humans first figured out how to promote the fermentation and leavening of grains to first be brewed into beverages and then, later, to be baked into bread. This probably happened by accident time after time, until someone smart figured it out. Next our ancestors figured out how to save a portion of the fermented grains to use to "start" the fermentation of their next batch of bread. Since that time, humankind has been using and making 'sourdough.'"

But the TERM "sourdough" is from 1800s Gold Rush. If you believe the intarweb.

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

intarnation

― M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:03 (twenty years ago)

It was made in ancient Egypt even

Yeah, but did they fashion it into a bowl and eat clam chowder out of it? Didn't think so.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)

SF has done this before with rice pilaf (rice a roni).

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:27 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I was gonna say: Bay Area sourdough has a distinct tang because of the local yeast, but every area has its on wild yeasts, and every area has made its own "sourdough" bread. In France I believe the term is "pain de campagne", country bread.

So if you wanted to make Bay Area sourdough bread overseas you'd have to ship some starter out there, and hope that it doesn't get overrun with the native yeasts.

You might as well enjoy some sauerbrot instead.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:42 (twenty years ago)

So so good... mmmmmmm

http://www.boudinbakery.com/images//category/SDImages/main_banner.gif

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:47 (twenty years ago)

Russian black bread is very sour. And very traditional.

― scotstvo (scotstvo), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:03 (twenty years ago)

Sourdough bread in California tastes *absolutely nothing* like Ethiopian bread in California.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:35 (twenty years ago)

Yeah sourdough is ubiquitous in AU, well at least in Melb and Syd and the like anyhow. It has replaced "white bread" in a lot of places such as sandwich bars and cafes cos its like, fancy an'that innit?

I dont care for it plain, like in a sammich or for dipping - the cultured taste is too tangy-ick to me, plus the bread tends to have this heavy moistness I'm not fond of. Toasted, its great.

I like turkish bread or ciabatta myself. But really it depends on what it will be used for.

Didnt know sourdough was a US thing tho - I wouldve pegged it as Italian or even eastern European (jewish maybe).

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:38 (twenty years ago)

Spencer OTM. Sourdough is not actually sour like the Ethiopian stuff.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:47 (twenty years ago)

The texture is completely different for one thing.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:49 (twenty years ago)

Heh:

http://www.sourdough.com.au/

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:50 (twenty years ago)

Haha, site design so ripped off from Macromedia.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:50 (twenty years ago)

Hahah yeah it is!

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:57 (twenty years ago)

Well, that's fitting since Macromedia is a San Francisco company and the bread is obviously ripped off from SF as well!

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 23:01 (twenty years ago)

I'd bet any money if you did a quick strawpoll on sourdough bread here in Melb asking where it's originally from, people would probably say "europe". Never heard anyone mention the San Fran thing. I should re-read my sourdough bread recipe in my Cooks Companion bible and see if it does mention it.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 18 August 2005 23:08 (twenty years ago)

eleven years pass...

I am coming to terms with the fact that I don't really like sourdough

― kinder, Wednesday, 21 December 2016 14:59 (nine years ago)

heathen

― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 21 December 2016 18:36 (nine years ago)

it seems like the thing now that hip pizzerias all do sourdough as default fml

― kinder, Wednesday, 21 December 2016 18:58 (nine years ago)

good thing that you no longer live in the Bay Area anymore then?

― sarahell, Wednesday, 21 December 2016 19:03 (nine years ago)

don't like it

― conrad, Wednesday, 21 December 2016 20:29 (nine years ago)

you bread it

― loudmouth darraghmac ween (darraghmac), Wednesday, 21 December 2016 20:46 (nine years ago)

I soured, oh I soured, oh I soured oh on sourdough

jk it is the best

― the year of diving languorously (ledge), Wednesday, 21 December 2016 21:07 (nine years ago)

smells good dough

― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 21 December 2016 21:27 (nine years ago)

sarahell yeah exactly! Non-sourdough bread was mostly ridiculously sweet though so it was often the lesser of two evils.
But the UK has decided it's the future pfffft

― kinder, Wednesday, 21 December 2016 21:30 (nine years ago)

love sourdough. i could eat a loaf of san francisco sourdough each day. injera is great. sourdough foreva

― Islamic State of Mind (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 21 December 2016 21:58 (nine years ago)

all bread is godly

― a but (brimstead), Thursday, 22 December 2016 01:44 (nine years ago)

Even wonderbread

― a but (brimstead), Thursday, 22 December 2016 01:44 (nine years ago)

i could probably make a ranked list of sourdough breads -- it is my favorite.

I think La Brea Bakery might be my #1, Acme is up there, Alfaro's might be fave in the sliced category

― sarahell, Thursday, 22 December 2016 03:10 (nine years ago)

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