The Lovely Loaves

They are here! After two weeks I finally have sourdough bread, and it is edible. In fact, it's more than edible, it's delicious-- crisp, with a good crumb, and an even better crust. But it was not an easy road, filled with failed attempts, flour flying, and several unleavened-- well, breadsticks.

The baguettes are beautiful, but I understand why most people just pick up a baguette on their way home from work. It is quite a process, a day-long task in fact. Making the bread from a sourough starter inhibits the rising process; it can take upwards of six hours from start to finish. But the taste, the subtle tang of sourdough, fresh from the oven, the bread still warm and steaming as I tore a bit from the crackly crust, can't be beat.

I must admit, my baguettes, for all of their breaded beauty, are cheated on a bit. The first set of baguettes were made, following the recipe for sourdough baguettes as found in The Cheeseboard Collective Works. Now this cookbook, for all of its thorough instructions, exhaustive hints, and spirit of share-and share-alike, is not actually the best cookbook. I chalk it up to the fact that most of the recipes it contains, are for baked goods done on a large scale, replete with proofing chambers, pounds of flour, and seasoned bakers. When I made the baguettes, following the instructions verbatim, what I was left with was an impossibly tough mixture (carpal tunnel inducing upon kneading), and a dough that did not rise, producing a tough, bagel-like crostini. The family dogs were the only living things that enjoyed these lovelys; they were tough as rawhide chews.

After such a disappointing let-down the first time, I did some more reading on the subject of starters, and learned that some starters benefit from a bit of yeast. The starter, although living, is in fact too weak to make an enjoyable, leavened product. I threw caution, as well as the recipe to the wind, making the dough according to touch, viscosity, smell, etc. The baguettes you see although sourdough in taste, are made with a modicum (1/4 teaspoon to be exact) of yeast. These baguettes were truly a labor of love, and the desire to not fail again. I couldn't let all of my faithful readers down. You wanted to see some bread-- now you have it.