I admit it, maybe it has something to do with the fact I am a Bay Area native, and here sourdough is like pablum, but I love sourdough bread. The tang, the crumb, the subtle puckery nature, it makes my heart go pitter pat. To me, even a bad loaf of Colombo Sliced Sourdough makes pretty good toast slathered with butter, and the end piece of a sourdough baguette, still slightly warm, crust shiny and bubbled from The Cheese Board, is sublime.

I had done some reading on baking sourdough bread, and I will be the first to tell you– the task seemed a bit daunting. For those of you who don’t already know this, sourdough bread is made from what else, sourdough starter. This starter is different from other forms of bread in that it is yeast-free, or rather no prepared yeast is added to it. A combination of rye and bread flours, and lukewarm water, is fermented and invigorated for days, and makes the living organism that is a sourdough starter. Many bakeries that bake sourdough bread products, have several containers of sourdough starter that are decades old. When fed and cared for regularly, a starter will last indefinitely. Just think of it as house plant, or a small child.

Recently I purchased the The Cheese Board Collective Works, a fabulous cookbook of the bread, pastry, cheese, and pizza, by the Cheese Board Collective. The Cheese Board is a bustling, amazing cheese shop cum bakery in Berkeley, CA. Besides being an entirely egalitarian, successfully worker owned co-op, this shop also has the largest selection of some truly interesting cheeses, and the most friendly, knowledgeable staff of anywhere I have been. From the more unique, semi-hard cheeses from Spain, to the more traditional, creamy ricottas (they have 5 kinds), to the various types of scones, muffins, and flat breads, I confess, the reason I return to the Cheese Board, time and again, is the sourdough bread.

Inspired by my latest cookbook purchase, and encouraged by my insatiable desire for sourdough bread (and I can’t camp out at The Cheese Board’s doorstep), I decided to make my own starter. The Cheese Board cookbook, in the spirit of “share and share alike” gave me step-by-step instructions to begin my culinary travails. I think what will be the most trying aspect of the process for me will be patience. It takes a minimum of 12 days, to get the starter going– 12 DAYS. I am not the most patient of human beings. But when I think of the living organism that I will have in my hot little hands, in less than 2 weeks, it makes me giggle in gleeful anicipation. Check back in at Nosheteria for the latest thumbnail pics of the starter in its creation. We’ll call this Goo Day 1. It is simply a mixture of rye flour and water. Stay tuned as the feeding begins.