The Real Bread Campaign launches its Sourdough September celebration today, seeking to inform people as to why 'life is sweeter with sourdough', plus everything you need to know in order to create it yourself.
It is a month of unique events to encourage home bakers with masterclasses, recipes and competitions to have a go at replicating this lockdown hero; keeping you in sourdough for many weeks to come.
Sourdough September coincides with our recent report on Alternative Sourdough from across Australia and Asia, with several takeouts from the report you can enjoy below:
Sour's Hour
These days sourdough is one of the hottest topics in food. Before isolation, the taste and nutritional benefits of the ancient bread baking techniques had propelled sourdough to massive heights. New artisan bakeries were opening up all the time while established bakeries business boomed.
Talkin' Trash
One of the top trends to come out of the home sourdough boom is trash (or discard) baking. Basically, when feeding a sourdough starter about half of the old starter needs to be discarded in order for the starter to thrive. Many bakers used to throw this away, however, since flour became a scarce commodity during lockdown - trash baking became essential. Some bakers just fried it directly in a pan with flavourings such as spring onions and spices, while others use it to make super tasting crisp-breads and much more.
Bubbling Brekkie
Perhaps the most common use of sourdough trash is to make things such as waffles, muffins, crumpets and pancakes. This active starter base adding much-needed yeast and a burst of flavour to take these to the next level. But, it is not just trash starter that is being used. Bonafide sourdough techniques are now being seen in retail products with artisan versions of the breakfast treats making their way to grocery and supermarket shelves.
Noodles & Flats
Pizza is one of the most popular and prolific ways that people enjoy sourdough. It has become the gold standard of restaurant pizza production and has started to trickle into retail. These days you can even enjoy hand stretched, artisan sourdough pizza made by a master patissier. However, the newest Italian sourdough trend is to make pasta inoculated with sourdough starter. Rather than adding bubbles, the community of bacteria and yeast found in the starter add complex flavour and aroma instead.
Learn more about Sourdough September by clicking here
For more on thefoodpeople and to read our report in full via the trendhub here, join the TFP community by visiting www.thefoodpeople.co.uk