On the sixteenth blog spot, I mentioned how sourdough is a major part of culture and traditions. I was lucky enough to get a sourdough starter from Ms. Renee. With each started there is always a story on how it came to be. This weekend I finally had the opportunity to make my first loaf of bread, using Ms.Renee's starter. I asked her is she wouldn't mind sharing her families story on how their sourdough came to be. Hope you all enjoy the story, as much as I loved my bread!
Clumsy Mule Sourdough
This sourdough was given to my mother, Marian Huston, as a wedding present by Miss Lola Tilly, professor of Home Economics in Alaska School of Mines (now the University of Alaska Fairbanks), Miss Tilly had got the sourdough from an old miner, and she told Mom it was around 100 years old (this was in 1963). The original culture was that shared among miners coming over the Chilkoot Trail from Skagway during the Gold Rush.
Sourdough starter was a valuable part of the gold seekers' provisions and was protected during the transport. Miners carried the stater in a leather drawstring pouch was worn around their neck under their clothing or stowed in leather saddlebags next to the mule's body to protect the culture from freezing. Miss Tilly's miner source told the story that during the trip over the trail, their were many challenging stretches. Once, his mule slipped and fell over. The mule was unhurt, but the sourdough pouch that was in miner's saddlebag fell and was squished all over the side of the mule. The miner, unwilling to accept the loss of such a valuable item, scraped the starter off the mule, put it back into the bag, and continued up the trail.
Today,this sourdough starter has no trace of the "mule" in it, but it retains the original yeast culture from those old Sourdough days. Store your sourdough in a glass or pottery containers, never metal. Use the stater every week, storing in the refrigerator between uses. When making sourdough recipes, add extra water and white flour (ad yeast if recipes call for it), mix, and take out the extra by volume to reserve for the next round of starter be fore you add oils, eggs, or other ingredients for whatever you are making. This was you can continue the life of the starter. To make the sourdough more flavorful, leave out on the counter in the glass bowl for a day or two before use. To mitigate some of the sour flavor in the recipes, add a bit of baking soda as the last ingredient before cooking. Never add soda to the starter. If you can't use the starter for an extended period of time consider drying it for storage.
The University of Alaska's Cooperative Extension Service Publication No. 61 provides more information, recipes, and general history of the classic Alaskan staple.
BIG Thank you to Ms. Renee for taking the time to share her story.
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| My first attempt at sourdough. It was so delicious!!! |
