Wednesday, May 26, 2004


herding or agriculture?

with this unusual weather we are having, i realized on monday that conditions were perfect for starting a natural levain. so i did!

this is either herding or agriculture, i'm not sure which. i suppose it depends on whether you feel as if you are "capturing" the free wild yeasties from the environment and "corralling" them in the starter, or whether you are patiently "growing" them in the happy-warm-moist conditions they prefer.

as always:

just mix this into a soft dough with your hands, drape with a damp paper towel, cover that with a bit of plastic wrap, and secure with a rubber band.

pop that puppy into a comfy, draft-free place, like the middle shelf of your oven. moisten the towel a couple of times a day.

depending on the weather, you'll see bubbly activity in 36-72 hours. it's alive!

while i wait for the yeasties to survive the darwinian struggle in all that flour (i mean, this is new york we're discussing -- there's gotta be a lot of wacky tough beasties fighting for existence in there until the yeasties overwhelm them all with lactic acid, the stuff that adds the delicious tang to breads like this), i decided to take my own life in my hands.

by repeating yesterday's blooming harrar and vac pot setup, but this time i left the lid on! good girl. great coffee. . .

finally, phrase of the day: touchy-feely flapdoodle. hilarious. as usual with these stories, the editors should just headline it: author gets judgemental butt thoroughly kicked.

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