Bakers make distinctive variations on the
basic loaf bread from a variety of grains and
other ingredients. Here are brief descriptions
of some of them.
Sourdough Breads Sourdough breads get
their name from the fact that both the dough
and bread are acid. The acidity, along with
other distinctive flavor components, is
produced by bacteria that grow in the dough
along with various yeasts. The bacteria often
include some of the same lactic acid bacteria
that make milk into yogurt and buttermilk (p.
44). The leavening for this kind of bread
begins as a “wild” starter, a mixture of
whatever microbes happened to be on the
grain and in the air and other ingredients when
flour was mixed with water. The mixture of
yeasts and bacteria is then perpetuated by
saving a portion of the dough to leaven the
next batch of bread.
The first breads probably resembled