29/03/2007

Sourdough bread is having something of a renaissance and is now on sale at chic delis and on the menus of the hippest restaurants. Interest in healthy eating and natural produce has helped. Sourdough is made without added yeast and is raised naturally, as mankind did for thousands of years before yeast was available.

At Iglu Bar and Ethical Eatery, in Edinburgh, head chef Dave Crabtree makes all the bread by hand, fresh every day, some of it with bakers yeast and some made entirely from natural leavens. Here, he shows how to make sourdough and offers tips on using your loaf…


Sourdough baking is one of the oldest cooking skills we have today and in these days of wheat intolerances caused by the commercial breadmaking industries questionable production methods more and more people are baking there own. I would encourage any aspiring home bakers, cooks and chefs to have a go at creating a leaven; its easy to do, cheap as chips and can be used in a variety of unexpected ways, as the following recipes show.

To start your own sour dough

Take a scrupulously clean plastic tub, about 1litre capacity is plenty. Combine 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. Use whatever flour you fancy as long as it is a ‘strong’ bread variety. Rye makes particularly good sourdough and is low in gluten for those people who find wheat makes them feel bloated. Cover the mixture with a tea towel and leave overnight.

The next day add the same quantities of flour and water. Cover and leave it again. Repeat the process, adding slightly more flour and water each day. After 4 or 5 days you should notice a distinct yeasty sour aroma and the gratifying froth of fermentation.

Your sourdough is now ready to use. Be sure to replace what you take from it each day and you can keep it going indefinitely (our sour at the restaurant was started in August last year). If you are not using it regularly store it in the fridge and refresh with a good amount of flour 12 hours before baking.

Make crepes…

If you don’t use the mixture to make bread, there are also other uses for that lovely frothy goo. At Iglu, we have started making savoury crepes from our leaven using 200ml white leaven, 1 large egg, 60ml whole milk and 50g plain flour.

Whisk together the ingredients and rest it in the fridge for half and hour. Fry in a non-stick pan as you would ordinary crepes and fill with a filling of your choice. I find them particularly nice with mushrooms; the earthiness compliments the tang of the pancake.

…Or a flabby batter for fish and chips

 Tale 200ml white leaven, 100ml beer (like 80 shilling or deuchars), 100g plain flour, 25ml vinegar, 25ml English mustard, a pinch of caster sugar and salt and pepper. Whisk it all together and rest it for 30mins before using.


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