Cocktail hour - what’s on our minds?  

Sourdough Quoogles:

Possible that some form of sour dough has been in use for the last 5000 years. 

Pliny the elder described people taking a bit of dough from each day’s bread and keeping it to add to the next day’s bread helped make the bread lighter.

The development of commercial yeast killed off the need for people to keep sourdough starters alive. 

naturally occurring acids and long fermentation help to break down the gluten, making it more digestible and easy for the body to absorb. So sourdough is Slightly healthier  than other types of bread.

And the  microbes may even help slow down the staling of the bread.

The combination of bacteria and yeast is what gives each starter something different. And it varies and most starters have at least 7 types bacteria and 3 types of yeast.

At a sourdough library they toured on Gastro Pod Podcast they got to smell different ones so some had more of a creamy smell (more lactic acid) to mushroomy (maybe due to a type of fugus that grows in it) to almost meaty starters from China. 

Theories on why sourdoughs have different varieties:

• Different types of flour have different microbes that contribute to the variety of flavors

• The person’s “microbiome”

• The environment the starter is made in

Some people think that the water can contribute - but it is more likely the water’s microbes actually might inhibit some of the microbes in the starter

We sort of touched on this when we did the injera which is teff based but here are some other varieties.

Here are some different Sourdough Breads from around the world:

• Rye Types

• Rugbrød - a rye bread from Denmark that is quite short and dense

• Pumpernickel

• Kommissbrot

• Borodinsky bread - Russian - I think I encountered a version of this on my trip in Russia with my grandma when I was 10. I did not care for it.

• Wheat Breads

• Amish friendship bread - definitely got at least a few of these starters when I was growing up.

• Herman cake - A cousin of the Amish Friendship bread. But a sweeter type of dough

• Bazlama is a single-layered, flat, circular and leavened bread with a creamy yellow colour, found in Turkey. 

• Maltese bread (Maltese: Il-Ħobż tal-Malti, tal-malti) is a crusty sourdough bread from Malta, usually baked in wood ovens.[23] It is typically eaten with spread olive oil, where the bread is rubbed with tomatoes or tomato paste, drizzled with olive oil and filled with a choice or mix of tuna, olives, capers, onion, bigilla and ġbejna.[24] The practice of making the bread is considered a 'dying art’

• Coppia ferrarese [ˈkɔppja ferraˈreːze], also known as ciopa, ciupeta and pane ferrarese, is a type of sourdough bread made with flour, lard, malt, and olive oil, and has a twisted shape

• Eish shamsi 

• Maize Based!

• Eish (Or Aish) merahrah (Mer har rah, "smoothed-out bread", "spread-out bread") is a flatbread, made with ground fenugreek seeds and maize, eaten in Egypt. It is part of the traditional diet of the Egyptian countryside, prepared locally in village homes in Upper Egypt. The loaves are flat and wide, and usually about 50 cm in diameter.[10] A soft dough is made with the maize flour and left to ferment overnight with a sourdough starter, shaped into round loaves, and then allowed to rise or “proof” for 30 minutes before being flattened into round disks and baked.

Recipe Source

Miso Butter Grilled Cheese. - Half Baked Harvest

Ingredients 

Sandwich

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 tablespoon white miso

• 1 clove garlic, Pressed

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, basil, and cilantro

• 1 jalapeño, seeded if desired, and chopped (optional)

• black pepper

• 6 slices sourdough bread

• 1 cup shredded gouda cheese

• 1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded

• hot honey, for drizzling

Soup

• 2 pounds tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped (or if out of season or the selection isn’t good 2 28-oz cans Diced tomatoes

• Veggie Stock

• 3 cloves garlic, Pressed

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 t dried Oregano

• Salt

• Pepper

• Additional Optional Flavoring Ideas

• Miso

• Oregano

• Parsely

• Basil

Special Equipment 

Pot 

Bowls

Large non stick skill pan
Steps in Detail

(Add explanation breaks where needed)

1. In a bowl, combine the butter, miso, garlic, herbs, jalapeño, and black pepper

2. In a large pot, sautee onions until soft 3-4 minutes, Add garlic, sautee 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes and stock. Cook for 15-30 minutes depending on your preference on how “fresh” you like the soup to taste.

3. Spread the inside of each piece of bread with miso butter. Sandwich evenly with cheese. Then add the top piece of bread.

4. Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil or butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the sandwiches in the skillet and cook until golden on each side, about 3-5 minutes per side. Drizzle with honey.

Sourdough: Bread, Starter, Recipes & More | Bob's Red Mill

List of sourdough breads - Wikipedia