April 1 is usually reserved for April Fools’ Day, but I have a better idea: Celebrate National Sourdough Bread Day on April 1 instead. Here in Portland you can immerse yourself in all things sourdough at the second annual Portland Sourdough Showcase, taking place at Steelport Knife Co. that afternoon. And it’s free to attend!
Sourdough
As you may remember, making sourdough bread gained increased popularity during the COVID pandemic. I, myself, kept a sourdough starter on the counter during those years.
Natural leavening like sourdough has been around for millennia. From the article, “A Brief History of Sourdough,” by Eric Pallant:
“For 6,000 years—since breads were first baked in the Fertile Crescent until the end of the 19th century—the staff of life was made by hand from only four ingredients: flour, water, salt, and a sourdough culture of wild yeast and bacteria. Workers who built the Egyptian pyramids received the bulk of their calories from sourdough bread. Ancient Rome imported wheat from across its vast empire to turn into loaves it distributed to Roman citizens. Survival through the Middle Ages depended upon preparation of sourdough loaves baked in communal ovens.”…