So, how has 2022 been for you?

So, it’s about time to my biannual entry. Damn, when I said a few years ago I wanted to post more frequently this is NOT what I imagined. Posting once every 6-7 months is definitely not my ideal, but hey, I have been painting a lot lately, perhaps I can write about that in a week or two. Or in six months. I promise nothing.

Quick update if you have been following me for quite some time or if you know me and I haven’t had the chance to catch up with you: My health issue has not yet been resolved. It’s not Cushing syndrom/disease, as I believed it could be last December, but I have not been yet diagnosed with anything. It’s got something to do with an inflammation process in my body, and I know that because of the correlation between a pharmacological treatment with anti-inflammatory medication I have been taking since February 2022 and my latest results: it has helped me lose weight again! I am so hyped because since I started that treatment – unrelated to the weigh-loss treatment, by the way – I have lost 10 kilograms, yay! So you tell me if that is not deeply suspicious and shows how things are related. Anyway, I’m working with my orthopedic surgeon and a new endocrinologist (I don’t know if this one is number 8 or 9, to be honest) to find out what could be the underlying cause because I can definitely not live taking anti-inflammatory medication for the rest of my life. Fingers crossed we’ll find the source of the problem some time in the near future.

On the personal front, I am much, much, much, MUCH better now. 2021 did get so much worse in the last 28 days of the year after I posted my last entry (remembered I said “I have no question about how much worse 2021 can get”? Oh, it did get waaaaay worse) but I have learned sometimes things need to get seriously messy for you to finally decide to clean said mess. I mean, it’s like when you have a couple papers lying around in your house and you don’t even notice them after a while, and you get used to the mess. You really need a flood, a fire, an earthquake, fucking Godzilla to come and tear down your house for you to consider rebuilding it. I don’t know if that applies to everyone, but I am a very resilient person who thinks everything can be saved… until it can’t. So yeah, the flood, the fire, the earthquake and fucking Godzilla hit my home – I think they even threw a party with a few zombies and some careless dynamite handlers on meth – but the good thing about things getting really messy and finding yourself amidst the disaster is that you get a clean cut and don’t want to hear from your past condition ever again, and you get to be the lucky owner of a brand new plot where to start building anew. That’s a true luxury, and at this point nobody can tell me otherwise. I know so.

AAAAANYWAY…. To the true content of this entry.

After I posted a few pictures of my most recent loaves of sourdough bread a couple of months ago, some friends – like my dear Katya Treviño – asked me to share the recipe with them. My sister jokingly replied to one of the comments – from our dearest Erika Yahel – and said the secret was the living things doing all the work, and she’s most definitely right.

So, if you’re interested in making your own sourdough bread, here’s a step-by-step tutorial to show how you can get yourself your own edible pet – if I am completely honest, that’s truly how I feel about my sourdough. I have named each and every one of my starters because I read that’s something the experts recommend, and… why not do what the experts recommend, right? 😀 The thing is, when you name something, you sort of imbue a personality to it, and it is more difficult for you to let die something you named versus letting a sticky goo get all moldy. That’s the whole deal with the name of your starters.

For example, the first batch I ever made was called “Foxy” because I fermented it in a fox-shaped jar, and a friend of mine proposed I should name one of my upcoming batches “Fire” – it would then be the “Fire” starter (…) I must admit the idea eventually grew on me, and every time I thought of my sourdough, I would do it with The Prodigy in the back of  my mind (if you do not get the reference you can click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw to check the song I am talking about) so this particular batch of sourdough – of which I am posting images – was called “Stefan’s Fire Starter”, so that was more personal and entertaining, I must admit. So, keep in mind: an edible pet.

I hope you find these comments useful as a first approach. I researched how to make my own sourdough starter in many webpages, and I spent several months experimenting to achieve the method that was more suitable for me until I found the set of steps that I liked the most, so keep an open mind regarding the changes you might perform to my recommendations to make this process your own. You’ll see with a bit of observation you can find the way to improve them and adapt them to your own conditions, so you can feel more comfortable and satisfied with your results. This is, of course, in case you are really interested in making your own sourdough bread. If you find this whole bunch of steps just too complicated and troublesome, perhaps going to the baker’s is more convenient and less stressful. Don’t sweat it unnecessarily. Life’s too short.

How to make your own sourdough bread

First of all, you need to know this is a process that takes several days, at least. It’s not like you can wake up any given day thinking “I want to eat some bread today” and just start baking. You need to have a good sourdough starter to begin with.

“What is a starter?” You might ask. Well, a starter is the thing that makes your bread a bread. It is the natural yeast that comes from the air borne bacteria that helps in the fermenting process to make a bunch of flour a living being that will rise and become soft and yummy.

Living in Mexico, this process is much faster than in other northern, colder countries, like the ones in Europe or in the U.S., because our warm weather helps bacteria reproduce at a faster pace. Take that into consideration if you look into other websites for tips. The base recipe is super simple:

• 60 grams of whole wheat flour
• 60 ml of warm water

In my very personal experience, it needs to be whole wheat, this means, what in Mexico we know as “harina integral” because if you try to use white flour the starter might never take off due to the chemical processes white flour undergoes. I have tried to get whole rye flour, or whole barley flour, but the thing is that those are not common grains we use to bake in Mexico, so it is not easy to find them. Someday, if I find it, I’ll let you know how that goes.

So, you pick a container, preferably a glass container with a lid, you put the 60 grams of flour and then add 60 milliliters of warm water and mix them until they are perfectly combined. The first few days it doesn’t matter if your water is a tad too hot, because there’s actually nothing alive in your mix, but after the third day you actually have to be careful not to heat your water too much, because anything too hot might kill the precious bacteria you are trying to raise, so watch the temperature. If you can put your finger in the water and not get burned, but still feel it is warm, that is a good temperature.

On the second day, you discard half of your mix – sort of, you don’t need to be super accurate here, just be careful not to leave too little in the container – and you add 60 more grams of flour and 60 more milliliters of water. And you will repeat this procedure for the next few days.

The information sources from colder countries say you can have a good starter after 10 to 12 days, but the last time I fermented my own sourdough starter, it was ready in 6-7 days. You’ll notice the mix tends to have a foul smell the first 3-4 days, but one day you’ll go to feed it and you’ll realize the thing in your container no longer smells like something that would poison you, but like bread. Unbaked bread, but believe me, the smell is quite recognizable. Also, the mix will get bubbly and after a couple of hours of feeding it, it will typically double its size – I mark my container with a wax marker to be able to objectively notice the volume increase. You’ll know that’s the moment when you are ready to start baking, and that is a whole ‘nother process with a bunch of variables.

To start baking, I’ll tell you what I like to do in my very warm Mexico, but remember, I am just one source of information in an ocean of avid bakers, so feel free to ignore me and find your own path in the baking world if what I am saying makes no sense to you.

The recipe I am about to share was taken from Emilie Raffa’s website (http//theclevercarrot.com) and I wouldn’t like to take credit for her recipe (just for the procedure, which I perfectioned myself over two years of experiments, swear to god).

For a loaf of sourdough bread you need:

• 250 milliliters of water
• 150 grams of sourdough starter – it needs to be bubbly, do not use it right after feeding it; for example, if I intend to use it let’s say at 10 p.m. I prefer feeding my starter at around noon or 1 p.m. for it to be in the right point for my taste
• 25 grams of olive oil
• 500 grams of flour
• 10 grams of salt

You can either follow the procedure on Emilie Raffa’s website – that’s what I did the first few times to be fair – or you can follow my adapted procedure to the Mexican weather, you choose what suits you best.

I like getting the water, the sourdough and the oil – which have all liquid consistencies – in a bowl, mixing them pretty well, and then add the flour and the salt, until they get mixed and well incorporated. It will not look perfect, but something like this:

I like to do this at around 9:00 or 9:30 at night, to give it the chance to autolyze for about 30 minutes before mixing it for a second time. After autolyzing, the mix will look more or less like this:

As you can see, after those 30 minutes the texture of the mix is more uniform. I form a nice and even ball and put it back in my bowl to let it rise. I usually cover it with a damp cloth or a plastic bag. Emilie Raffa proposes a series of folds along the process,  and this could be cool if you decide to bake during the day, but as I am fast asleep at the intervals she proposes, I just let it rest all night long, and perhaps at 5, when I wake up to exercise, I go to the kitchen to find my mix has doubled in size.

That’s when I fold my sourdough to help with the gluten creation process and to let it rise for a second time for about 30-40 minutes (there are some wonderful youtube videos that show how to fold and handle your bread mix, if you are really interested, get in there and enjoy, I know I do enjoy it every time I watch those techniques, because I, as well as other breadheads, are weird and get excited by things like unbaked bread being manipulated. Go figure.)

So, after those 40 minutes have elapsed, I form a new ball, something tighter – the youtube videos will surely show you that part as well, remember this is just a guide, I’m sorry I cannot describe the whole thing in here, I don’t feel knowledgeable enough to describe with words this part of the process, to be honest – and leave for 20 more minutes to rest.

After those 20 minutes, I make some cuts in my mix to give it the chance to grow and become a beautiful ball of goodness. You can see some very creative designs on Pinterest or Instagram. I am a simple woman in that regard, so I usually just cut a line down the middle and that does it.

And then, after I have applied some parchment paper to a Dutch oven – I love that thing… if there were a fire in my house and I had to choose between saving my computer or the Dutch oven, I would definitely save the computer, but only because the Dutch oven is fire resistant, duh! – I put the mix inside the Dutch oven, let it bake covered for about 25 minutes, then I remove the cover and let it bake for 25 more minutes.

And voilá ! You have a crunchy, soft, warm and delicious loaf of bread, and it only took you about 15 hours – spread along a couple weeks – of your precious, finite time. Oh boy, I just realized I am wasting my time… I could very well just buy a loaf at the bakery and forget about this whole process.

Jokes aside, I really love doing this. I consider it more a hobby than a smart decision for a nutritious routine, to be fair. But it is like growing your own tomatoes – there is a pride you feel when you finally see what you have achieved after so many days of hard work, that makes the bread even more delicious. If you are into healthy nutrition, you must know sourdough bread is the way to go. Never eat white bread again, all full of processed flours and sugar… if performed well, sourdough bread is a wonder that provides about 10 grams of protein per 100 grams of bread, and a bunch of fiber and nice things… I wouldn’t dare sharing a table with numbers, because it all depends on the type of flour you are using, but I can tell you it is much better than using store-bought bread.

I hope you have enjoyed this mini-guide to the starter-creation and sourdough-baking process. If I have piqued your curiosity, perhaps you will research more about the topic and you will become a breadhead yourself, posting your pictures of your loaves of bread on Instagram in no time (please, let me know if you, I already follow several accounts like that), and if you just thought this was plainly too much effort, I hope at least you can appreciate what breadheads like me do, and be super happy when we, crazy bakers, come bearing a loaf of bread to your place when visiting – be aware we might be really, REALLY proud of our baked baby and giving it to you is true evidence of our love for you!

Thanks for reading guys, hope my next entry is ready before December! Ha ha ha.