[Sca-cooks] Sourdough Article

[Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur]

> > Since yeasts tend to be highly localized and there are a great many
> > species
> > and variants of Lactobacillus, the hypothesis that sourdoughs in
> > different
> > areas have different Lactobacillus is a pretty good bet.  Most of us
> > who
> > work with sourdough think the variations in the yeast and lactobacillus
> > account for the variations in flavor.
> You are saying that the yeast makes more of a difference in the taste
> of the resulting bread than does the choice of flour or other added
> ingredients? Or do you just mean variations in taste of loaves made in
> different localities but made with the same ingredients? I would think
> using whole wheat instead of a white wheat or a soft wheat instead of a
> hard wheat would make the biggest difference in taste, but then I'm not
> a baker. Or at least haven't been for about 30 something years.

Specifically when making traditional sourdough. Since the yeast in a 
traditional sourdough is a wild yeast, not the "farmed" _Saccharomyces 
cerevisiae_ you buy at the grocer's - yes, regional variations in the strains 
of wild yeasts (usually various Candida species) and Lactobacilli will make 
substantial changes in the taste... which will mask the more subtle changes 
from using different varieties of wheat flour (of course, whole wheat and non-
wheat flours are a whole other story...).

Avraham

****************************************
Reb Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur
     (mka Randy Goldberg MD)