[Sca-cooks] Starter went 'Pffft'

[Terry Decker]

> --- Terry Decker <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>> The "sour" in sourdough doesn't refer to the taste, it refers to the
>> spontaneous fermentation.  You are "souring" the starter.
>
>
> Please direct me to the references for this statement.  I believe there 
> may be some misinformation
> in it.
>
>
> William de Grandfort

Check the dictionary.  Sour -- to make acid or rancid by fermentation.  In 
making sourdough bread you are making an naturally acidic dough by 
spontaneous fermentation.

In the US, when some one says sourdough, one thinks of San Francisco 
sourdough and the great sour tang produced by Lactobacillus sanfrancisco. 
It is a sourdough bread that truly tastes sour.  However, worldwide, the 
flavor of sourdough bread runs a gamut of flavors, some of which don't taste 
very sour (consider Amish Friendship Bread).  The idea that sourdough tastes 
sour comes primarily from the fact that modern commercial sourdoughs contain 
citric acid to fudge the taste of San Francisco sourdough.

Bear