As I was on day 3 of the fermenting process with the starter, I couldn’t help but wonder who it was that came up with this process? So I did a very short bit of research and found this article on the history of sourdough bread. It is believed that sourdough bread is one of the earliest forms of leavened bread, specifically that used in the Egyptian time period prior to the Israelites exodus. The article suggests that the reason the Israelites did not use sourdough bread (leavened bread) is due to the time it took to make the bread as they were leaving. (Those who hold to religious beliefs pertaining to the Bible and the Christian faith understand that God commanded the Isrealites not to eat leavened bread – Exodus 12:20 – to remember the day they left Egypt in haste, thus corroborating the article’s claims, but there is a secondary reason for not eating leaven which is not important to the topic of this article.)

There is no known individual who discovered the process. But my nerd-driven mind just wants to know how it happened. It seems quite a feat to just randomly discover the process (as is suggested) when yeast is nonchalantly introduced into flat bread as it is just laying out. Am I the only one?

My research goes on to talk about how the introduction of baker’s yeast made it easier, quicker, and more profitable to use and thus sourdough bread became less common. All of that changed around 1980’s and it began to rise back up in the taste buds across the nation. 

My research indicates there are other ways of making sourdough starter and that previously sourdough bread had a slow rise method overnight (not refrigerated). I am interested in trying out this method some day, but at this point, this method and recipe has seen raving reviews so at this point, this technique is my go to method.