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Introduction

On Sourdough

We dare you to start your own.
Mix half a cup of warm water with a package of dried yeast and a bit of sugar. When it has begun to foam, mix it with four cups of hard whole wheat flour and a pinch of salt. Add enough water to make a firm dough and divide it in half. Use half of this paste immediately; the rest is your sourdough culture. (A baker would call it sponge.) Put a few tablespoons of warm water into it and leave it in a high-sided bowl, covered, in a warm place in winter, and chilled in summer.
Each time you remove half of it to leaven bread make up the loss with more flour.
Sourdough may take a while longer to rise; bear with it. Don't let the dough dry out.
Your culture is still a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae but after a few generations and some contamination with wild airbourne yeasts it will begin to sour.
Some cultures of yeast are purported to be centuries old. This would reflect favourably on their support staff .
It's well known that keeping pets has a salubrious effect on people, too, and this way you can have many trillions of them at all times. Just remember: it's up to you to keep them happy. A few drops of molasses for the vitamins every once in a while is the least you can do. Oh, and don't let them dry out or freeze. Keep the culture inside your coat along with your water in sub-zero conditions.
A case could be made for these obligingly gassy little creatures being 'Man's Best Friend.'

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On Frugality | On Cookery | On the Board | Batterie de Cuisine | Keeping it Fresh | Keeping it Dried | On Nightshades | On Water | Arthritis in the Kitchen |