[Sca-cooks] citations on sour dough from the OED

[Terry Decker]

If sourness was the sole standard of quality, then your dead starter would 
make the finest loaf of sourdough around.  Or add citric acid to and dough 
and be done with it.  Simply being sour does not make a sourdough.  (If you 
haven't managed to make a loaf of sourdough which sucks in all regards other 
than sour, you haven't been baking very long.  In 40 years, I've had some 
spectacular failures.)

The standard for quality is the loaf; crust, crumb and flavor.  Light enough 
that it doesn't set like lead in the stomach, slightly heavier than average 
breads with a nice chewy crust and excellent flavor (from the pungent 
sourness of San Francisco to a very mild tang that dances on the palate). 
All sourdoughs are not the same and it is the amazing variation that I find 
appealing.

One of the points you have been trying to make is that sourdough is a 
continuous use starter.  It is impossible to keep lactobacilli out of a 
continuous use starter and once there, they will add acid to the mixture and 
produce some level of sourness in the bread due to the acidity.  Whether or 
not the sourness is noticable as sour is determined by the type of 
lactobacilli in the starter and the palate of the diner.  In general when 
the term starter is used, a continuous starter which is fed and flucuates 
between aerobic and anaerobic is what is meant.

A single use starter (where the lactobacilli have limited growth) is best 
referred to as a sponge.  I tend not to get into all of the various 
definitions people have for poolish, biga, etc.  I will say that a French 
sourdough levain real is a sourdough starter of dough (rather than 
semi-liquid) similar to that carried by Alakan sourdoughs.

A fine, spirited defense of your opinions and some interesting arguments. 
Good work.  If you want to consider sourdough recipes, baking or chemistry, 
trot some out.

Bear

> The question then becomes: 'can the two be seperated'?  If the sourness is 
> a sign of quality, then
> doesn't it, by extension, become the quality we are seeking??  Consider: 
> If we know that a
> quality bread has a sour flavor, can't we assume that a sour bread is a 
> quality bread??  Maybe
> this would need some further research.  Can you make a sour bread which 
> sucks in all other
> regards??  I'm not sure.  I think not.  If you can do it, send me a loaf 
> :)
>
>
> William de Grandfort