A pen pal with someone in Kenya, and sourdough bread...

[mikeofaustin]

My friend in Kenya, he has bee-hives (different post). Today, we talked about a very basic food that he had and I knew nothing about. He told me about chapati. It is a bread that is non-levened bread food. Basically, a hard tortilla. I told him about yeasted bread and sour dough breads, and how you can create a starter from the air around you. He got very excited because apparently, he never knew that you could have bread that actually had yeast in it. For that matter, I don't think he even knew what local yeasts mean. Man, this is a good thing. I'll keep you informed. I'm hoping that we can get this guy to create a great bread from local African (Kenya) yeasts.

 

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[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

i am hot on sourdough. Used to make my own, then relented and now use straight packaged bread yeast to start with, after a few days it starts to take on it's unique flavor. Patience. Drool

Chapatis are very good, they are unleavened 'whole wheat' paties similar to the Mexican tortillas, but diner plate in size.

Don Jose de La Mancha

"I exist to Live, not live to exist".

 

[mikeofaustin]

This friend of mine, was really intriguing by my recommendations. This guy, he obviously has his own garden of fruits/veggies in his back yard in Kenya, but he never.... NEVER caught on to the fact that you can get yeast from the air, and get yeast bread (levened, versus chibati). This is a good thing. I know that yeasted bread is as old as the gods, but man, I appreciate this guy. I do not know why he doesn't know anything about creating bread from yeast from the air, but I'm going to do everything I can to introduce him to yeasted bread. Perhaps, later, I'll introduce him to fajitas.

(shoot, I just made myself hungry. Pico anyone?).

 

[packerbacker]

I've had my own starter but ended up tossing it. I need to make more. One thing I've always wondered though; if you get some famous starter say from San Francisco, after you have it home hundreds of miles away, won't the starter eventually become "local" starter and lose it's original characteristics? Now I'm going to have to do some research. I know there are some starters that have been handed down through generations but what happens if you move??