Natural leaven Bread. Pain Au Levain

"Pain au Levain" in French. Bread made from a sourdough starter. It is a dense bread, usually round or oblong, with a very delicate tang to it. The sour tang -- or the acidity ("acidité", as the French refer to it), helps to hold moisture in the bread, which makes it stay fresh longer than breads made with yeast.


 TLB's sourdough starter culture.
Whole wheat stone milled flour that I bought from Jln Ipoh's Indian Flour Mill, Manuka Propolis Honey.

The Indian Flour Mill in Jln Ipoh.

 Milling in progress.

 Stone milled whole wheat flour.


If soda makes a quick bread, then this recipe, using a natural leaven is a very, very slow bread. The wild yeast I have cultured has multiplied slowly, together with lactic bacteria, to create a distinctive, sour taste to the crumb. The extended kneading during the initial fermentation will help to stretch the air bubbles released by the yeast, enlarging them to create a web of exaggerated holes throughout the crumb.  

Some health benefits you can read up about Sourdough Bread:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2008/07/sourdough_bread.html
http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2010/05/06/sourdough-for-health/


*Loaves

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