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Original San Francisco:
Price: $14.00 BUY
 In 1997 we had the good fortune to acquire the culture considered the authentic San Francisco sourdough. Extensive research published in
1970 identified for the first time the wild yeast that makes this sourdough bread rise and the bacteria that produces its flavor. The researchers developed methods to permit
commercial bakers to duplicate the process everywhere. We now offer this culture to the home baker. The wild yeast was originally classified as a strain of Saccharomyces
exiguus, called Torulopsis holmii. It has been reclassified as Candida milleri and again reclassified as Candida humilis. The bacteria is Lactobacillus sanfrancisco. The two
organisms thrive in a symbiotic relationship that has protected the culture from contamination from other yeasts and bacteria for over a century of baking. It is this
symbiosis that, contrary to widespread mythology, will prevent contamination from organisms in your environment. The researchers found that "it seems apparent that
this system would not work if baker's yeast were teamed with the sour dough bacteria". Now you can produce authentic San Francisco sourdough in your kitchen, both by hand and in home baking machines.
Special instructions are included with it to be used in conjunction with the sourdough
baking information in the book. The instructions are not intended as a "how-to" book for sourdough baking, but for the special handling techniques for this culture only.
Italian Cultures (includes two)
Price: $16.00 BUY
 We searched for Italian cultures unsuccessfully for 15 years and suddenly have two, one which has been carefully guarded and is
almost impossible to obtain. They are both from the Naples area, where the first pizza was made in the 1800's, and are among the best we have ever used, consistently producing fabulous breads
that are flavorful and that can be quite sour. We were told when we received them that they were different, and we confirmed that difference. We will keep the secret, and let you determine what it
is when you use them.The two cultures are packaged together with Italian recipes and instructions. Now you can bake your own traditional pizzas,
ciabattas and Italian country breads using authentic Italian cultures. The recipes also have been adjusted for use in bread machines, without sacrificing flavor.
Australia (Tasmanian Devil):
Price: $14.00 BUY
 Australian beer and wine have become favorites around the world. Now you can add another unique fermented Australian
product—sourdough. Just as Australian wine has its own notable qualities, this culture produces breads with a distinctive flavor and texture. It has the added versatility of being ideal for spelt and kamut flours.
We acquired it when an angel from Tasmania emailed information about a culture she had collected. "Earlier this year
I was passing a local deli in Hobart and the unmistakable smell of sourdough hit me. I decided I could try sourdough. So on a misty, late summer morning I put a flour and
water mix in the middle of a paddock to capture my own culture. Within three days I had something going and I haven't looked back."
New Zealand: (includes two)
Price: $16.00 BUY
 Best for the beginner.
In 2003 I acquired a culture from Kristeva Dowling in New Zealand that is one of the easiest and best
choices for the novice sourdough baker. It has been used around the world with great success ever since.
This description in an email from New Zealand
insured that we would give it a try. "I captured my own sourdough almost two years ago. It is a lovely sourdough that works for everything from whole wheat, potato,
sweet breads etc. I first caught the yeast in Rotorua and it has gotten much better and mellowed in flavour".
A true sourdough rye.
A year later I heard from Charles Schatz in Wellington, who describes himself as a Yank from Brooklyn. He grew up on Eastern European rye breads, and after moving to
New Zealand, captured a rye sour culture and started producing his own rye breads. This culture introduces something special, the rye sour. As far as we know, this true
rye sourdough is the only one available to the home baker. Now you can easily produce those fabulous rye sourdough breads.
With this combination of cultures, even the novice can be an "artisan" baker.
South African:
Price: $14.00 BUY
 This culture was collected by Gray Handcock in Kenilworth, a suburb of Capetown, South Africa. In his e-mail correspondence with Sourdoughs
International, Handcock describes the culture and its origin this way: "I have made cultures before and indeed I made my own bread for close to 5 years. For some reason, I threw the culture out
and started eating "cardboard". However, when I started wanting flavour in my bread again, I collected this new culture. It is very flexible with regard to rising times and can create a
very strongly flavoured loaf. The taste has the potential to become very powerful when fermentation is left for 8 to 10 hours. I always use pure whole wheat, no
unbleached white flour. This culture is easy going and has been trained on whole wheat, and it functions with either somewhat wet or somewhat dry doughs. It rises at
temperatures down to 18 degrees Centigrade (64° F.)."
This is the only sourdough culture we are aware of that leavens whole-wheat better
than it does white flour and is therefore ideal for those who grind their own flour. The flavor is truly unique, and when combined with 100% whole-wheat, the texture,
sourness and flavor are unsurpassed. We have also grown it using all white flour. The nutty flavor persists and white sourdough breads made with this culture are quite
different from those prepared with our other sourdough cultures.
Sourdoughs International prepares this culture in the same manner as our other
cultures, except that it is grown in 100% whole-wheat flour. Its ability to leaven whole-wheat doughs offers the home baker almost unlimited opportunities to experiment
with different combinations of whole wheat, spelt, kamut and white flours. Instructions are included with this culture.
CULTURES WITHOUT INSTRUCTIONS–$9.00
TO BE USED ONLY WITH THE DIRECTIONS IN THE BOOK,
CLASSIC SOURDOUGHS
- Order by Fax or Mail -
-Shipping Costs -
Classic Sourdoughs was written to anticipate and answer the many questions of the
first time sourdough baker as well as the old time sourdough addict, and with this information, all the following cultures will thrive. There are many variables in each
baking environment, and trying to respond to all the possibilities in an abbreviated instruction sheet enclosed with the culture would lead to failure. Therefore, only
activation instructions are included with the following 9 cultures.
Russia:
This culture is from the village of Palekh two hundred miles northeast of Moscow. It is
a fast leavening culture, handles heavy Russian whole wheat doughs very well and appears ideal for automatic home bread machines.
Price: $9.00 BUY
France:
The French sourdough is from a small bakery on the outskirts of Paris that has been in
business for over 150 years. The starter rises very well and the dough has one of the mildest sourdough flavors.
Price: $9.00 BUY
Austria:
This starter is from the old section of Innsbruck. The bakery carries a sign over the
entrance proclaiming 1795 as the year the business opened. The culture is especially adapted to rye flours, rises somewhat slowly and produces one of the more sour doughs.
Price: $9.00 BUY
Yukon:
When we were in Saudi Arabia this culture was given to us by a former medical school
classmate who was there at the same time. He got it from his physician father, who in turn got it from a Yukon prospector. The wonderful flavor it produced inspired us to
search Europe and the Middle East for other sourdoughs while in Saudi Arabia. It was well received in comparison baking tests we conducted there with the other cultures
we were acquiring. Each was different, and the unique properties of the Yukon earned it a permanent place in our collection.
Price: $9.00 BUY
Finland:
This culture is hard to describe, as the wonderful and distinctive flavor and aroma it
imparts are truly "indescribable". It rises well
Price: $9.00 BUY
Egypt: The Red Sea culture:
This culture is from one of the oldest ethnic bakeries in Egypt. It was found in
Hurghada on the shore of the Red Sea when it was still just a village. The bread was actually placed on the village street to rise. It has a mild flavor and works well in automatic home bread machines.
Price: $9.00 BUY
Egypt: The Giza culture:
The bakery where this sourdough was found dated straight back to antiquity and was
literally in the shadow of the pyramids. This culture could be the progeny of the one that made man's first bread and is similar to the one we used to recreate that first bread
in Egypt for the National Geographic. The dough rises well and is moderately sour.
Price: $9.00 BUY
Bahrain:
Bahrain is thought by many to be the ancient Garden of Eden. Since antiquity it has
been the place where East meets West. It is a curious mixture of the oldest and the newest. The Bahrain sourdough is from the oldest of the old. It rises well and is one of the most sour.
Price: $9.00 BUY
Saudi Arabia:
The Saudis have completely transformed their country in the last fifty years from a
collection of villages to a country of modern cities equal to any around the world. But the desert Bedouin has survived that transformation unchanged. And the Saudi
sourdough is as desert as its Bedouin baker. It rises moderately well and has one of the most distinctive flavors of all the cultures.
Price: $9.00 BUY
Order by Fax or Mail
To protect quality and viability, we cannot accept returned cultures or give refunds. If directions in Classic Sourdoughs are followed and a culture fails to "start", it will be
replaced within one month of shipping.
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