How about using a surdough from 1847?
If you too have joined the current wave of eating foods prepared with natural yeast to restore your intestinal flora and thus combat gastrointestinal problems, allergies, high cholesterol and even depression, you might be interested in sending a letter to a citizen of Oregon, USA. He will answer your letter by sending you a sample of the natural yeast used by his family to bake bread since his ancestors set out on their cart along the trails of the Old West in 1847.
In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest in home-made Kombucha drinks, craft beers, natural preserves, as well as breads and cakes prepared with natural yeast. All these foods and drinks have in common the total absence of industrialized products in their preparation, which are replaced by the use of bacterial colonies that live naturally in our environment. This is the case with European pickles, Japanese miso and shoyu, Arabic yogurt and keffir, Asian fermented drinks, Korean kimchi, German sauerkraut, Indonesian tempeh and others. These types of food are thousands of years old and appear in all Western and Eastern cultures.
The use of surdough (natural yeast), or levain, in bread making has also become very popular again in recent years, just look at the breads available in artisan bakeries near you. You can make your own natural yeast at home by mixing a little organic wheat or rye flour and an equal amount of mineral water to form a homogeneous dough. Stir this dough at least once a day for several days until air bubbles begin to form on its surface. Then add three times the original amount of flour to this mixture to reduce its acidity and make the yeast more vigorous. You can also use water from cooking potatoes to prepare this mixture.
In recent decades, housewives and bakers have preferred to use industrialized yeast because of its practicality, speed of action and uniformity. However, the use of natural yeasts results in tastier bread that is more easily digestible and preserves better.
In the process of making levain at home, the microbial life present in the flour, on your hands and even in the air of the preparation environment is incorporated. If the environment is ventilated, the temperature is right and the utensils are properly cleaned, the complex formed by the yeasts and bacteria will remain healthy and stable in composition, without contamination by bacterial cultures that are harmful to health. The origin of the sourdough starter will have a strong influence on the taste of the bread you prepare, but the original composition of this starter will slowly change as it incorporates the yeasts available where you live.
If you would still like to use a yeast that has been kept alive since 1847, follow the instructions available at the link below:
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