Happy Sourdough September!

It's been almost over a year since the birth of this little thing over here. This video was created to share the life and journey of a sourdough starter- Dobby, who lies in his little box as a free-living and anaerobically breathing organism awaiting his destiny .......Was that a bit dramatic?

I wanted to talk about bread for quite some time now, especially how the ones we get in supermarkets and grocery stores taste like the breath of satan, and are not at all good for our daily nourishment. The first anniversary of Dobby and the month of September have come together for me to write about this. But, before that, I wanted to talk about something that I discovered recently- Sourdough September, and the purpose of this campaign and how it benefits us. So,.....

HISTORY LES- SORRY, FORCE OF HABIT

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Sourdough September

This year marks the 10th annual anniversary of the international Sourdough September. This online trend was created to encourage people to buy and make genuine bread with a special emphasis given to sourdough in September. This month provides bakers an opportunity to share their talent for making sourdough bread. This online trend was started by the Real Bread Campaign in 2013. Their aim with this trend is to make sourdough a much easier commodity to purchase and make, rather than an artisanal product that is difficult to obtain.

The Real Bread Campaign is run by Sustain, an online charity that was founded in 1999, (Real Bread was founded in 2008) to share the ways of making bread without any additives or processing aids to make it better for the people, the communities, and the planet. The online charity also aims to help small businesses such as independent bakeries to survive and thrive in the competitive mass-produced bread industry. Their vision is to make "real bread" accessible to everyone within walking or cycling distance in the near future. Their website shows different methods through which you can get involved and participate in their campaign by making donations, purchasing handbooks and publications, spreading their message on social media, and much more!

Check out their website and make sure to get on the #SourdoughSeptember bandwagon as soon as possible by buying or making your own sourdough bread. (There is only a week left!)

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Why do we still buy white bread from the supermarkets?

If I could write an entire article about my disdain for bread from the supermarket, I would (trust me). But I decided to spare you all today and only give you some scientific facts about white bread......and brown bread. White bread is what we call an ultra-processed food. According to the British Heart Foundation, the term "ultra-processed food" comes from the NOVA food classification system which states that ultra-processed foods typically have more than 5 ingredients and include many additives, preservatives, coloring agents, etc.

If you take a look at the ingredients list behind any brown bread packet, you can see that there are a dizzying number of ingredients. Oftentimes the first ingredient is "Refined Flour". Brown bread is often marketed as a healthier substitute for white bread, but if you take a careful look at the ingredients list on a packet of brown bread, you can see that refined flour is the major ingredient indicating that whole wheat flour is just a part of it, and if whole wheat flour is mentioned first, you can find many added emulsifiers, preservatives, and coloring agents. Did you know that commercially produced brown bread is just dyed brown with caramel and other colors to look brown? According to Mint, this production process can create a cancer-causing chemical known as methylimidazole.

I wasn't a fan of store-bought bread before and after this, it definitely makes it easier to take it out of my life.......forever. (unless I had no other options)

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One of the things I made when I started cooking was bread. My first bread loaf was one of the worst ones I have made ever but when I tasted it, I decided to not buy bread for myself but rather DIY it. The process of making bread is therapeutic enough to convince me to make it myself. Homemade is always better, and the general rule of thumb with food is "Less is more". Food that has the least processing is the best option for our mouths and our bodies.

This is also what the Real Bread Campaign is trying to achieve, so make sure to follow them on social media and also follow @_ricesome_ as well on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. The links are on my website.

Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!