The Zen of Sourdough

Years ago I used to bake bread frequently- until I discovered I was gluten intolerant.  I missed the bread and the process.  Then this last year I discovered I could make a decent sourdough in a dutch oven.  An all sourdough bread will consume the gluten in the proofing process making it digestable for me- as long as I use organic flour.  I’m sensive to all the chemicals in regular flour.  Now I bake bread weekly.  I find the ritual of baking bread a meditative & sensual process.  One must be very in tune with the dough to know when you have it right. A bit of biology, chemistry, intuition, and a touch of alchemy can make four ingredients so delicious!

Sourdough Bread  

Flour, water, salt, starter

Combine, then gather with your hands

sticky with dough

Let the mixture rest 30 minutes

Form into a ball, now baby soft

Let it sleep while you sleep, eight hours or so.

Wake to the white mound doubled

Gather again, caressing this living substance back into a ball,

Place in a cloth-lined proofing basket

like you’re putting it down for a nap

In 3 or so hours this colony of wild yeast will reclaim its rightful size

Gingerly invert the dough from its basket

Score your design into its skin then

carefully lower it into a hefty cast iron pot

and slide it into the oven preheated to 450 degrees

Cover and bake for 25 minutes

Remove the cover and bake 15 minutes more until browned

(Savor the aroma of baking bread wafting through the house)

When the final timer rings

remove your lovely loaf and wait one final time for it to cool.

Saw the knife blade through the crust releasing the first slice,

exhaling the breath of wild yeast

Slather some butter on the warm bread

Savor and share in good company

Here is the link for recipe I use. (I cut down the water to 1 cup for a more workable dough.)

Photos, sketch, and poem by the author

Tune into my other blog about sustainability at onesweetearth.blog