A good sourdough starter is a thing of beauty, and creating a sourdough starter has almost reached mythical proportions. There was a time when it was a popular thing to have one whose name was Herman growing in your kitchen. Herman was the base for a variety of delicious cakes and bread.
The idea was that Herman grew and then you shared Herman with your friends. At one point in the 70s there were no more friends to share Herman with and he died out, at least in this writer’s neighborhood. It seems that Herman is still alive and well and helping cooks create delicious baked goods.
To welcome Herman to your home you have two choices, you can receive Herman from a friend or even order him on the Internet or you can create your own Herman. To make your own Herman you don’t need very much. Herman has a simple base of 1 cup of flour, one cup of milk and ½ cup sugar. The milk needs to be warmed to at least 110 degrees and then combined with the other two ingredients. Choose a bowl that you are not going to miss and make sure it is a lot bigger than the original ingredients.
Once the ingredients are all combined mix them together until the mixture is smooth. Place a clean dish towel over the bowl and set it in a warm location, at least 70 degrees is up to 80 is ideal. It is now a game of watch the mixture ferment. Don’t leave the mixture alone, it will enjoy your company, stir it often. What is happening is that yeast will begin to develop and this is where the fun starts. It is also possible to start Herman with yeast which gets the process going faster.
It can take two to three days for the process to get to the point where you need to start feeding Herman. On day four give Herman a cup each of flour, milk, and sugar. Stir for the next four days and then on day 10, feed Herman again. It is now time to start to bake with Herman and at this point, you may also want to start giving away some of the sourdough starter to some of your friends.There are many things that you can bake with sourdough starter, bread, cake, muffins, and bars.
A favorite recipe is called the Friendship Cake and the recipe is usually given with Herman when he is shared with friends. If you end up with more starter than you can easily use, you can freeze the starter and it will become dormant. The 10-day process for Herman continues for as long as he is alive and well on your counter so he will grow at quite an alarming rate. It is a good idea to really enjoy baking or to have a very large circle of friends when you decide to have your own sourdough starter.
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