Am I or has the whole world gone crazy? Unless you have lived in a cave, you must be aware of the ongoing war in Ukraine. As a result, both Ukraine and Russia, major suppliers of grain – accounting for at least 15% of the world’s supply – have come to a virtual standstill as Black Sea ports have ceased to operate. As if that wasn’t enough, nearly all of the world’s major wheat producers have been affected by severe drought: the American Midwest, France, Iran, Morocco, Australia and India, among others.

Wheat (flour) is not the only raw material at risk. Another lesser-known product is also at risk: molasses. Why should bakers be concerned about molasses? How many of us use jaggery? Certainly not many. What most people don’t know is that molasses is essential to the production of an important baking ingredient: yeast. Yeast is grown in huge vats containing molasses solution. If there is no molasses, there is no yeast.

I don’t have a solution for the wheat woes except baking alternative grains, but I do have a solution for the next (upcoming) yeast crunch: Make your own sourdough yeast.

Sour is basically natural yeast taken from the air. Imagine that you can operate a car with air. Now this will solve the global energy crisis. Nature provides us with a way to make bread without having to buy a yeast cube/packet at the store: by using the air around us.

The air we breathe is filled with billions of microorganisms, bacteria, viruses (like COVID, yuck!) and yeasts. Over the millennia, mankind has developed a way to “pull” natural yeast from the air, along with “friendly” acid-producing bacteria such as lactobacilli and acetobacilli. All you have to do is offer them food.

Natural yeast and acid-producing bacteria are not very picky about their food; You don’t have to be a gourmet. It is enough to offer them a bowl of oatmeal, that is, flour mixed with water (in equal proportions) and they go crazy. You see, these organisms can only eat glucose, which is abundant in starch – starch is made up of chains of glucose molecules. Yeast and bacteria break the chains into individual glucose molecules and begin to gorge themselves.

Most people think sourdough is difficult to make. How hard would it be if an ancient Egyptian housewife could do this with an IQ equal to the size of her sandals? (It was discovered by the ancient Egyptians).

Just take a bowl. Add 250 gr. flour (any flour) and 250 ml. Add water and mix well. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave it on your kitchen counter for two to five days (this summer, it may take less time). Kitchen towels are no barrier to yeast and bacteria from the air, they easily bypass it. As they come into contact with the mixture, the yeast and bacteria begin a chemical reaction of fermentation, releasing carbon dioxide gas (CO²). This is seen as bubbles in the mixture. When bubbles begin to form, it means that yeast and bacteria from the air have entered the mixture and are starting to breed. Heat, moisture and food are the right environments for their growth. As they reproduce, more fermentation happens: more bubbles.

When you see a lot of bubbles starting to form, it means they are “eating” the flour from the mixture and their food source is slowly being depleted. Now you need to start “feeding” them at regular intervals, mixing 250 gr. flour and 250 ml. Cover the water after mixing it well at an interval of 12 hours. After some of these “feeds”, the mixture will begin to bubble vigorously and that means there are enough organisms in the mixture to make bread. This mixture is now called a “cultivation” or “starter” of citrus. It should smell “yeast” and slightly sour. If it smells like it’s dead, you’ve caught unwanted bacteria. Throw it away, sterilize the bowl and start again.

If the mixture hasn’t bubbled wildly and you’ve reached the top of the bowl, pour two-thirds of the mixture into the sink and continue feeding the remaining third as above, until it does.

You can now use this “active” fermentation to make bread (see recipe below) or store it. To store it, feed it with more flour and water as in the previous case, pour it into a plastic “Tupperware” type container with a lid, and leave in the fridge. To use the fermenter from the fridge, take it out and feed it as above, let it come to room temperature and bubble. It is now reactivated for cooking.

You can leave the fermentation in the fridge indefinitely. Just be sure to feed it once a week (if it overflows, throw some away) and put it back in the fridge.

Sourdough bread tastes better than ordinary yeast, it just takes longer to rise. Besides delicious bread, this is a great “science/chemistry” experiment to do with the kids over the summer holidays.

Don’t have yeast? No problem. Use natural yeast.

The author, a master baker from Johannesburg, South Africa, lives in Kernei Samaria with his wife Sherrill and their four children. He is the CEO of Seidel Jewish Baking Center (www.jewishbakingcenter.com), which specializes in making and teaching healthy, traditional Jewish bread. He also runs the Showbread Institute (www.showbreadinstitute.org), which researches biblical showbread.

Mix and knead by hand for 10 minutes (6 minutes in mixer). Divide the dough into two parts. Place in loaf pan and let rise for 3-4 hours in a warm place. Bake at 250ºC for 40 minutes.

About the Author: Les Seidel, a master baker from Johannesburg, South Africa, lives in Carney Samaria with his wife Sherrill and their four children. He is the CEO of Seidel Jewish Baking Center (www.jewishbakingcenter.com), which specializes in making and teaching healthy, traditional Jewish bread. He also runs the Showbread Institute (www.showbreadinstitute.org), which researches biblical showbread.

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