The Bread of Life

Yes, I actually do mean bread, not something deeper and more spiritual. For me, breadmaking really is something that requires study and devotion. I consider it an art, just like painting, acting or sculpting. Of course I'm not talking about quick bread, bread machine bread or bread made with commercial yeast. I'm talking about bread made with wild yeast. The stuff you grow yourself, in your kitchen, on your counter and in your fridge.

For several months I've been interested in sourdoughs. Real sourdoughs. The kind that don't use any other form of yeast. I've searched for recipes and tried a few. I've been on many internet forums asking around but no one seems to rely solely on wild yeast. Granted, commercial yeast is easier, less time consuming and more predictable. Finally though, I found the book I'd been searching for. How had I never heard of this man, his bakery , or his books before?

I've decided I'm going to do a Julie & Julia with this book. Julie has a blog, although it hasn't been updated in a while so I'll have to do some sleuthing to find out what corner of the internets she's hanging out in these days. Anyway, just like Julie did with Julie Child's book, I have decided I"m going to make every single recipe from Chad Robertson's book. I realize the book is puny in comparison to Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking I mean really, 536 recipes compared to what? Maybe 100? Many of those are simply variations, so don't really even count as separate recipes. But--- I'm not trying to compete with the idea Julie Powell had. I like what she did. She took a book and mastered it. That's what I am going to do. I'm going to learn how to make the best wild yeast bread I can. Starting this weekend. Pictures will be taken.