Sorry I refuse to capitalize the name of the virus. And if anything good can be inspired by it – it’s cooking, or baking to be precise. To be even more precise – bread baking.
The lines into the stores, to the registries, empty shelves, signs limiting goods per person – I remember it all from my childhood and student years. All of a sudden fun and pleasant experience of exploring new products in Wegmans turned into depressing and reminiscent of the Soviet Union hunt for “stuff” when you buy just what’s there, not what you need. My only wish was not to go to any store, to become as self sufficient as possible. I couldn’t probably go hunting and gathering, but I grow lots of vegetables and greens in my garden. I used to bake pies and cakes, but never before I baked bread.
So it was my 2021 summer challenge – to learn how to make bread, and not just with yeast – sourdough bread from the very scratch.
It seems like everybody and his brother on youtube suggested their own way of growing the sourdough starter. I watched a lot, tried several, threw away a couple. Took me probably a month to get my own starter but it wasn’t before I understood what I was trying to get – the consistency, the look, the smell and the potency. It should be very spongy, bubbly, smell yeasty but nice so you feel like you are in a bakery. And it should be active and ready to work – you should see it doubles in size within 4-6 hours after being fed. To test I put a spoon of the starter into a bowl with water – it should float. The idea of following some precise temperatures/humidity growing the starter or fermenting the bread seems a little excessive to me, you cannot change the climate in you whole house for the needs of a little jar, you can wait longer, use warmer water and cover your jar or bowl.
Some of the loafs below are made with yeast, but most sourdough starter. I started to spice it a little by adding some seeds, or roasted garlic, or olives. By no means I mastered it, the challenge is still on, but I certainly enjoy the process of bread making. Working with the dough – kneading, folding, shaping, rolling became like meditation for me. t is so rewarding to see that of just 2 main ingredients – water and flour (and some pinches of salt) such beauties arise.
with roasted garlic 
Bavarian pretzels 
with onion and seeds 
ciabatta with rosemary 
chala 
wholewheat bread with seeds 
ciabatta
