Sourdough 1

from Short & Sweet
by Dan Lepard
Published by Fourth Estate 2011

I thought it would be fun to attempt a proper sourdough from scratch. The instructions from Dan Lepard's Short & Sweet were a little on the sketchy side, mostly because, as he says, this is NOT a 'short' cooking experience so is more of a parenthesis in this book. Here are the results of my attempt: 

First make a big ball of rye flour and water and leave it to grow some natural yeast. Kitchen chemistry at its most obvious.

Leave the ball until it cracks and begins to smell 'pleasantly sour'.

'Starter soup', i.e. the ball mushed up with more water and flour and left again. I can't believe this will turn into anything, but it does smell pleasantly musty.

The soup begins to bubble. Recipe now says discard most of it and add equal quantities of flour and water, cover lightly again and leave for another day before discarding and adding again.

But the next day, ph-ew, this smells like a teenage boy's bedroom. I think it died... The recipe did say chuck it out and start again if necessary. This this may be the moment.