Hello and welcome to The Sourdough Diaries! Glad you’re here!
Today, I’m beginning my first regular entry of The Sourdough Diaries. This column began as a project to use the extra time I had on my hands due to the passing of my beloved dog, Jino. I, like the rest of the world, dabbled with sourdough during the pandemic, but my current sourdough journey started about six weeks ago. In the first couple of weeks after we lost our Jino, I immersed myself in the meditative process of religiously feeding my starters and kneading dough. I made several lovely loaves of bread before my dad, who had been ill for several years, took a dramatic turn and also passed. For the last month, I have been home in California for only a few days, only recently returning and slowly trying to get back into the rhythm of my life.
Today’s entry is a testimony to benign neglect and to resiliency.
According to my notes, I fed each of my starters on 8/1.
Mr. Stone Soup fed my starters once on 8/15 while I was gone before he too headed to Texas to join me and my family.
For the rye starter, he discarded half of the starter and fed it 50 grams of rye flour and 50 grams of water. For the whole wheat starter, he discarded half the starter and added 50 grams of whole wheat bread flour and 50 grams of water.
He stored them, critically I think, in the refrigerator. I say “critically” because I believe it slowed the fermentation process enough that the starter didn’t wear itself out.
Upon my return, it was a couple of days before I even thought about my neglected starters, let alone fed them. It wasn’t until 8/26 that either of the starters got fed again.
If you’re keeping score, that makes two feedings in about a month.
When I finally got back to them, the starters were looking rather flat and lifeless:
My hope was that those little holes that I still saw in the sludge at the bottom of my jar was a small sign of life. I discarded half of each and added 50 grams of their respective rye and wheat flours and 50 grams of water. The next day, the starters didn’t look great, but didn’t look dead, either:
I fed them again. The next day, they looked largely the same, so I decided to do something dramatic to try to get them to come back to life and I decided to make sourdough pancakes.
This recipe for sourdough pancakes is one handed down through generations of fishermen in Mr. Stone Soup’s family. They are traditional for big family breakfasts at the annual men’s fishing trip. It turns out that the recipe is also a good one for kick-starting sourdough starter back to life. It calls for 2.5 cups of flour, 2 cups of lukewarm water and 1 cup of starter. Here’s what happened to the rye starter when fed with this mixture:
I was delighted to see the expansion of the starter, replete with tiny blow holes indicating that the mixture was outgassing and happily fermenting. I think the large amount of food for the starter is what made the difference.
I haven’t made another loaf of bread yet, but it was great to see the starter starting to recover from the benign neglect. And the pancakes weren’t too shabby either:
I love to enjoy these pancakes on a cold, blustery morning. This batter is thick and the cakes are substantial, so if you prefer a more delicate cake, thin the batter with a little milk.
Enjoy them with butter and/or warm syrup!
Tune in later in the week for more adventures in the kitchen and more entries in The Sourdough Diaries.
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
