Recipes from professional Chef Tallyrand:

• Sourdough Bread •

Sour dough bread is made by making what is known as a ‘starter’ - this is flour and water mixed to form a soft, slack dough and leaving it for a week prior to requiring the bread. This ‘starter’ is used as the rising agent and was the basis of breads for hundreds of years in many cultures. It uses the natural yeasts found floating in the air, that are captured by the starter dough.

Lost to many countries over the years with the advent of yeast, it is now again making a comeback. Although, as many countries that there were which lost sourdough breads there were others that maintained and embraced the loaves. Maybe it was for the cultural significance, maybe the traditional, maybe it was the exceptional taste of the loaves over yeast breads. Whatever the reason sourdough breads are back with us in an ever increasing big way, which this chef is more than pleased with.

This is the bread many of our ancestors / forefathers were used to, the style of bread referred to in the Bible, the bread the ancient Romans marched on their bellies on and conquered the world with, it is simply the bread of legend.

People who have experienced my sourdough breads, those that have had it in restaurants or specialist bakeries rarely go back to store bought yeast breads. Sourdough breads have a wonderful smell, a crispness of crust and a chewy texture and body that can only be described as pleasurable to the point of being illegal, supermodels would kill for such body!

It is so easy to make and the finish of one loaf means the automatic start of the next - as you will see from the following recipe. But it does require patience and time initially. If you want to make a loaf every day, you will have to start by making a starter every day of the week for a week. Labelling them so you remember which was made on what day and then using that starter to make the bread on the corresponding day the next week. Sounds complicated and a lot of fuss, but it isn’t and you will love the initial effort and it is worth the wait for the first loaf . . . if you can wait for Xmas once a year, then a week for a great bread loaf is not too much to ask.

Ingredients

flour	1		kg
water (warm)			sq
flour	1		kg
salt	25		gm
patience			sq

Method

Day #1

1. Combine 1kg of flour with enough water to form a soft, slack dough
2. Place into a large, clean bowl outside for an hour
3. Cover with cling-film and place in a warm, (but draught free - a linen closet is excellent) place for two days

Day #2

1. It should have started to ferment already, but just leave it alone and just forget about it until tomorrow
   

Day #3

1. It should have fermented nicely by now
2. Add sufficient flour and water to bring it back to the same texture as it was on the first day
3. Cover and leave it alone for two more days

Day #4

1. It should have fermented nicely again, but just leave it alone and just forget about it until tomorrow

Day #5

1. It should have really fermented by now
2. Remove from the bowl and add the second lot of flour and sufficient water to bring it back to the same texture as it was on the first day
3. Knead for 10 minutes
4. Split into two and use one half for the starter for next weeks bread
5. With the remaining dough, add the salt and knead for another 5 minutes
6. Split into two and shape into a nice round loaves, place on a baking tray and loosely cover, leave it overnight to prove in the a warm place (at least 12 hours)

Day #6

1. Pre-heat an oven to 180ºC
2. Place bread in oven and bake for 45 – 60 minutes until crisp and sounds hollow when tapped on the base (this method is used to try all breads for whether they are cooked or not)

Day #7

1. Enjoy the remainder of your bread and start all over again

Enjoy and bon appetit . . . . .

Published 31st March 2006