Short Review: "Sourdough"

I occasionally make sourdough bread, although not enough to maintain a continuously fermenting starter (it usually ends up forgotten for a couple weeks in the refrigerator and then I have to throw it out.) That may be about to change. Sarah Owens has written an impressively thorough book on using sourdough leavening not just for bread, but for many different kinds of baked goods, some with rising times and some without. There are quick breads, fried pancake-like breads (latkes), and crackers in addition to more traditional sourdough loaves.

After an exhaustive treatment of tools, pantry staples, and even a bit of bread chemistry, she presents a collection of unusual recipes in three categories: breads, savories, and sweets. Interestingly, most of the ingredient measurements are expressed in weights (grams) instead of traditional volume measurements, so you'll need a kitchen or postal scale that reads metric. First thing I'm going to try is Bleu Cheese and Walnut Crackers, followed by Apple Hand Pies with Cheddar Crust.

My only complaint is that there is no simple, plain sourdough bread recipe here - they're all fancy things like Pomegranate Za'atar Spiced Focaccia, and Candied Bacon Cornbread. Yes, yes, I know I can just look that up in another cookbook or online, but it would only have taken a page.

Gorgeous photographs, beautifully laid out.

Highly recommended, particularly in print form (the ebooks are readable, but - perhaps because of all the photos - not suitable for the Kindle, and even a little awkward on Adobe Digital Editions in epub format.)

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. The image above links to the Amazon page for the book.