There is something special about potatoes here in Sweden. Or was, perhaps you should say because the younger generation does not see the potato as irreplaceable in most meals. Not unless it has been deep fried, of course.But for many older Swedes, a dinner without potatoes is almost unthinkable. But if we go back to the 18th century, it was a little different. Olof Rudbeck had admittedly brought home and planted some potatoes as early as 1658, but then only as an ornamental plant. It was not until 1724 that Jonas Alströmer began to grow potatoes as a food plant. However, ordinary people were s ..read more

Danish pastry comes from Denmark, right? Well, yes.And no. According to legend, the pastry was created by mistake.A French baker’s apprentice had forgotten to mix the butter in the dough and tried to save it by adding it in pieces instead.To his surprise, it was a huge success.The recipe was transported to Austria, where bakers brought it to Denmark. The Danes understood the potential of this pastry and made it famous.If you believe in legends, that will say.I’m suspect that my neighbors in the west may object to this story.Anyway, it’s incredibly delicious, and baking naturally leavened Danis ..read more

Sourdough discard. Anyone who bakes with sourdough has to deal with it in some way.Some simply waste it, claiming that it’s such a small amount of flour that it does not matter much.Others try to minimize waste with different methods. The scraping method is one of them. You can become very successful in minimizing your waste with the scraping method.But zero discard is hard to reach if you are not a professional baker or if you don’t bake every day.Sooner or later, you have to pause from baking and put your starter in the refrigerator. And then the problem comes. A starter that has been in the ..read more

There is something magical about baking Pita bread.First, there is nothing.But after a minute or two, you can see how the outer edge begins to rise slightly.Then it all comes at the same time.And it goes quickly.It almost looks like someone is inflating a balloon. I have to admit that I have been hesitant to bake sourdough Pita bread.For some reason, I thought it would be harder to get the same inflated result with a starter than with baker’s yeast. I was wrong. It takes a longer time, of course, but that is not a big issue if you are used to baking sourdough bread.And the result is just as gr ..read more

Bagels are special. I mean, the fact that they are boiled before baking separates them from most other bread.It’s said that they originated in the area around Krakow in Poland during the 17th century.I’ve read somewhere that bagels are originally sourdough bread.It doesn’t surprise me.There was hardly any baker’s yeast in the 17th century. So we are going back to the roots here. ABOUT FLOUR AND OTHER INGREDIENTS FLOUR PROTEIN CONT.% WEIGHT GRAM BAKER’S% Wheat flour (bread flour) 13 350 100 Water 200 57 Sourdough starter 60 17 Barley Malt syrup or sugar 21 8,5 Salt 7 2 MIXING THE DOUGH The hydr ..read more

I’m very fond of cheese.Cheese can lift a mediocre dish to something heavenly.Take mozzarella, for example. You can’t fail with it.Any ordinary pasta gratin looks delicious if you add some mozzarella on top. Then we have Parmesan, Cheddar, Chevre, Feta, and not to mention the Swedish Västerbotten cheese.If you ever visit Sweden, don’t forget to sample Västerbotten cheese.You won’t be disappointed. I tried a new cheese recently called Manchego. Manchego is a Spanish cheese made from sheep’s milk, named after the province, La Mancha, where it is made. Some people say that Manchego is Spain’s equ ..read more

Sandwich bread is a sad story here in Sweden.The cheapest ones are close to useless. But even if you pay some extra for a loaf of bread, you will probably be disappointed.Some producers claim that they are baking with sourdough.That is, of course, not true. They only add sourdough to get at least some taste to the bread.The fermentation process is dependent on baker’s yeast.And it’s a fast process.I have read somewhere that ordinary sandwich bread is not allowed proof for more than 15 minutes.I don’t know if it’s true. Hopefully not, but if it is, it’s depressing. Now, this is not a crusade ag ..read more

Sourdough sesame seed bread The post Sourdough sesame seed bread appeared first on Sourdough&Olives ..read more

In a previous post, I claimed that I never mess with my sourdough starter. What I mean by that is I don’t add anything except flour and water. And I always use flour that I know works.I have kept that promise for many years now. Don’t switch flour for your sourdough starter. But two weeks ago, it happened. I had to use another type of flour, one that I had never tried before. My kids had used the last amount of my precious flour to make pancakes. Apparently, It was not enough, because they had gone to the grocery store and bought some extra.Not the kind I use for bread baking, of course.I’m no ..read more

Take a teaspoon of cocoa powder and put it in your mouth.If you’re like most ordinary people, you won’t think it’s a great taste experience.But let’s say you decide to add some fat and, perhaps, some sugar. Now we are talking. These are the main ingredients in dark chocolate, something many people are craving every day.One way to satisfy the craving is to bake sourdough brownies. That way, you can also make use of some sourdough discard you didn’t want to waste and is sitting in your refrigerator now. When I bake bread, there are not that many ingredients involved. I mean, most of the time, yo ..read more