Monday, January 23, 2023

Beer, Bread, and Yeast

Brewing beer, 16th century (source)

As I’ve mentioned many times, Len makes absolutely wonderful bread, mainly from sourdough starters (one wheat, one rye) that he has kept going for several years. Recently, he became curious about the history of bread baking, particularly the history of using starters and of obtaining yeast from breweries, such as the one depicted. 

Len’s Bread

Len’s discussion about where bakers got their leavening

I've done a lot of reading to answer the question about how traditional bakers got their yeasts, i.e. beer, old dough, or liquid levain (our method). For 19th century America I came to a very unexpected result: it depended on where in the country you were. In the East people exclusively used brewer's yeast. I got this from a Dover reprint of a cookbook from 1841 by Sarah Josepha Hale, and from a discussion in a book by Linda Civitello called Baking Powder Wars. Hale says that you should use what's left in the bottom of the cask when you make your household beer, or, if you don't brew beer, get it from the local brewery. She lived in Boston and Philadelphia.


However, In California, they used sourdough of the type we use from early times. For example, Boudin bakery (which still exists) started making sourdough loaves in 1849. They claim that they are still using the starter that their founder, Isidore Boudin, had in the original shop. In the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the wife of the then owner heroically saved the levain in a bucket and ran out of the shop with it. 

Boudin Sourdough: available at Costco!
It’s quite good (but Len’s is better).

Mae found accounts of people on the Oregon trail who had levain in the wagons and baked on the trail. Of course, you know the stories of the miners who slept with their levain to keep it from freezing.

My guess is that this split reflects European practice. In England all bread was made with brewer's yeast before commercial yeast became available (1860's more or less). The Brits had a horror of sour bread, and prefered it bitter, like beer. (Hale's recipe for bread using brewer's yeast added hops). On the other hand, on  the European continent, our kind of levain was the standard. Isidore Boudin was from a family of bakers in Burgundy, and came to California around the Horn. Many of the people on the Oregon trail came directly from Europe (e.g. Sweden) and carried their starters with them.

So it all comes down to custom, and snobbery.

Beer and Bread Were Invented Together

Ancient Egypt: Kneading a starter for beer.
(Israel Museum)

Ancient Egypt: Kneading bread. (Toronto Museum)

… and Humans Have Never Been the Same.

Source: “How Bread, Beer, and Soy Sauce Changed the Human Biome”

Blog post © 2023 mae and len sander

 

23 comments:

  1. To beer, bread and the Bakerman!

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  2. Beer and bread is certainly very important in my native Germany, and I really miss the dark hearty bread we eat there. I'm not a big fan of Boudin - the store in San Francisco is fun to visit, but the bread is not that great. Thankfully we have a small local bakery that makes exceptionally good dark rye bread.

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  3. What a great post. I knew the Egyptians first made beer and used yeast, but I didn’t know anything about the history of sourdough. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Being British, it sounds like I would LOVE the bitter bread because I DO like bitter beer or stout, the only beer I'll drink. I found Len's research and explanation of different starters to be fascinating. I have a friend who uses a starter and she has kept it going for ages. I am truly in awe of this post and would LOVE to try some of Len's bread. It looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing this really informative information about beer and bread with us for T this week, Len and Mae.

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  5. That was a very interesting read, Mae. I really enjoyed the little bread-making history, here. Thank you for doing the research and writing this.
    Have a lovely week. :)

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  6. During our alcohol ban, brewers yeast was in short supply which meant no marmite was made. Like you, I use a sourdough starter.

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  7. Hello,

    Great post on the history of bread making. I love the Egyptian figurines. Len's bread looks delicious. Take care, have a wonderful day!

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  8. Here in Germany xou can buy both sorts of bread, but sour dough is always my favourite! Happy T Day, Valerie

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  9. How interesting. Here in rural Spain leider only white crusty bread like baguettes. I would love to make sourdough bread but I have never managed to make the starter.(Have tried several times) I did manage to keep a 'Herman? starter going for more than a year but that is sweet and needs to be fed with sugar every now and then. Not quite the same thing.
    Len's bread looks delicious.
    Happy T-Day,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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  10. Loved reading this. I love making sourdough and read a lot about the history from the book Tartin. It is a bakery in France that has a similar story to the one you told, if I remember correctly. It has been several years since I read the book.
    Thanks for sharing all tis.
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  11. Fascinating. I love baking bread, but never quite got the knack for making and keeping a sourdough starter going.

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  12. That is beautiful bread! It's interesting to see the development over time of foods we take for granted. Happy T Tuesday

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  13. How very interesting Mae! My husband has been trying to make sour dough bread for years.. unsuccessfully i might add.. He's trying to make it like his mom did but has no real idea how she made it.. I think he's just hoping to get lucky.. Happy T day! Hugs! deb

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  14. Looks delicious - Anne (Cornucopia)

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  15. So insteresting to see how bread, beer and yeast has progressed over time 😊. As you probably know by know, I love a good pint of beer! Cheers and Happy T Day wishes! Hugs Jo x

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  16. I had a HS English teacher who always said beer was liquid bread. (I'm sure our parents appreciated that.) Wonderful information here!

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  17. Wow. So interesting. And, no, I had never heard the story of them sleeping with the starters to keep it from freezing. Thank you for the interesting background. Happy t day.

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  18. A young friend of ours recently took up bread-making and presented us with a loaf of sourdough which was quite incredible. The gift of bread today is as meaningful as it has ever been and we appreciated both the taste and the significance.

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  19. This is fascinating. I must remember to hare this one with Rick!

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  20. I applaud and appreciate Len's commitment to his starter. If yeast were not so plentiful and cheap I would do it myself but the care and feeding keeps me from making the commitment myself. I make 50 - 100 loaves year all of them with the instant yeast. I feel guilty and lazy now. O well, at least it ain't Wonder Bread! I have always wondered why they called it "brewer's yeast". Now I know and I appreciate the knowledge more than you think.
    Rick of Jeanie and Rick

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  21. Fun post, I do love making bread and I have my starter in the fridge until needed. So sorry, RL got in the way, and I am terribly late. Happy T Day! Elle/EOTC xx

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