starter

Starters, not something you eat before your main course, I'm thinking about sourdough starters. A combination of flour and water (or fruit juice etc.) which contains a stable symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. The aim is that the yeast already present on the flour is allowed to grow and bacteria such as lactobacillus also develop in the starter and then it is used as the leavening agent in sourdough recipes. The starter is "grown" and then "fed" and if you keep it right and like the flavour it creates a starter can survive generations. I have only just started my starter so it will be at least a week before I can try it out.

starter recipe