"Do You Like Sourdough Bread?" article titled by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Doğan, one of the faculty members of Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU), Faculty of Fine Arts (GSF), Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts has published. You can find the details of the relevant article below.
I went to our village when I was five or six years old. A huge loaf of bread came to the table. A piece of it fell on me. I tore off a piece of bread. It didn't taste like the bread I ate in Istanbul. It was a little sour, overcooked, and, more importantly, too harsh for me. This was my first encounter with sourdough bread. At that time, I found this bread very strange and looked for the fluffy and soft Istanbul loaf that I always eat. But now I love those breads that have a unique sour taste and smell much more. And I'm looking. Unfortunately, I can't find it.
“Nowadays, I buy sourdough bread from bakeries in Istanbul that claim to sell sourdough bread. I cannot find the taste of that fragrant bread I ate in the village. But why?"
I will expand on this subject a little. However, I will also touch upon the history of bread in a few sentences. We talked about a few of the dozens of health benefits of sourdough bread and asked, "Can sourdough bread be prepared at home and in today's bakeries?" I will finish my article by looking for an answer to the question.
It would be useful to start with the history of bread. The history of bread goes back as far as the history of civilizations. When humanity started agriculture, it first planted and harvested grains such as wheat, barley, and oats. You may have heard it before. The first agricultural activity and the first ears of wheat emerged in the region we call the "Fertile Crescent". The geography we call the Fertile Crescent region is the region extending between the Euphrates and Tigris, including Anatolia. Our ancestors first broke wheat with stones and turned it into a slurry with water. They saw that this slurry boiled over after waiting too long. This was nothing more than seeing the dough that was prepared today with flour and water rising. They put this boiling dough on hot stones. This is how the first primitive sourdough bread emerged. They noticed that the taste and flavor of this cooked slurry were very good.
“Historical and archaeological studies show that Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, and Romans used bread as a component of their tables.”
Bread ovens were opened in Babylon in the 4000s BC, and the Egyptians made great progress in bakeries in the 3000s BC. Research has revealed that Ancient Egypt made 16 different types of bread. The Egyptians were the first to produce the sourdough bread closest to today. For centuries, our ancestors generally produced and consumed sourdough bread. However, since the 19th century, the change in living conditions and the advancement of technology brought about rapid production and consumption habits, thus the use of sourdough decreased and industrial-type yeasts began to be used.
“I asked a while ago. Why is it so hard to find real sourdough bread?”
Yes, the answer to this question lies in our consumption habits. It is hidden in what my graduate student, who is a very good baker and who I am also his thesis advisor, told me. My student makes real sourdough bread. Normally, standard bread is prepared in a maximum of 4 to 5 hours, while sourdough bread only takes at least 12 hours to ferment. Real sourdough bread is many times more costly than standard bread, and its price is inevitably higher. However, the sourdough taste is more dominant and a fuller bread emerges. Consumer expectations are generally for bread that is easier to eat, cottony, has a light taste, and is economical. For all these reasons, it is very difficult to find bread prepared with genuine sourdough in bakeries.
“I would like to talk about the technical aspects of sourdough bread.”
Sourdough bread is produced by adding self-fermented sourdough to the dough and baking the prepared dough. Sourdough microbes can be divided into two groups. Some of these are yeast microbes that enable the dough to rise, and some are Lactic Acid Bacteria that give bread its unique sourness, taste, and aroma. These yeast microbes, which are naturally present in the flour or come from the air, provide carbon dioxide release in the dough. Lactic Acid Bacteria, also found in flour or coming from the environment, provide the characteristic aroma and flavor of bread by releasing acid, ethyl alcohol, ketones, and aldehydes.
There are also many local sourdough fermentation methods in Anatolia. If I had to list a few of the interesting ones... Traditionally, April rains are collected and sourdough bread is made with this water. It is also very interesting to use the center dew that falls on the wheat ear. Pine cones and sour buttermilk are also used for fermentation.
“I would like to talk about some of the health benefits of sourdough bread.”
The phytic acid contained in flour passes into the dough along with the flour and from there to the bread. This substance prevents the absorption of some nutrients in the human intestine. The most important of these are minerals, especially iron. Now let's talk about sourdough bread... The enzymes of the Lactic Acid Bacteria that appear during the production of sourdough bread, which destroy phytic acid, work. They will eliminate many of them. In this way, we can produce healthier bread. In addition, these bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids and similar health-beneficial metabolites.
“Finally, how can sourdough bread be produced at home or in commercial bakeries?
”
I would like to finish by summarizing it in a few sentences. If we are going to prepare sourdough dough at home, I recommend using grape juice. In commercial bakeries, sourdough dough can be strengthened similarly by using fresh grape juice. Thus, we can easily add the rising feature of yeast microbes to the dough without using commercial yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Water is also very important in preparing dough. The water should neither be soft nor too hard. The ideal thing is to use hard water. If we use hard water, the dough becomes hard and the flow of nutrients required for the yeast is reduced. If the water is too soft, the gluten will become too strong and a soft and sticky dough will result. The gas-holding capacity of the dough decreases. The volume of the bread decreases. The shell color becomes pale. Additionally, if the salt in the dough is moderate (maximum 1%), it strengthens the gluten. A well-risen and voluminous bread is obtained.
I would like to end with a chapter from novelist Frank McCourt's novel "Angela's Ashes".
“Oh God, if heaven has a taste, it must be an egg cooked with a little salt and butter, and after eggs, is there anything better in the world than fresh, warm bread and a cup of sweet golden tea?”
Stay well…
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Doğan
