With my starter successfully reenergised and bubbling actively, I decided to make a simple plain white loaf. Then it struck me that I had strained some whey off the recaptured yoghurt. What happens when you substitute some of the water in a recipe with whey? I imagine a bit more acidity -- whey is...

First task on getting home after more than a couple of weeks away is always to see to my microbial friends. The pasta madre looked none the worse for wear, so back into the fridge it went. My own starter, however, looked none too good. Definitely a bit stinky, and floating above the expected hooch...

Davidovich's Pumpernickel Bagel (right) vs Dunkin' Donut's Rendition (left)

More on that bagel smack-down. The artisanal bagels beat the "artisanal" bagels, three nil.

Great little video showing how they make traditional Sardinian pane carasau, also known as carta da musica. Unfortunately, I can't seem to embed the video here.

P.s. 28 December 2017: Worse, it seems to require Flash. Image from flickr; the drop shadow was not my idea.

Catching up with podcasts, there was an intriguing bit in The Food Programme episode Seaweed, a forgotten food?. A baker ¹ said she regularly put seaweed in her breads, and that it added a good meaty note of umami. I remembered an old packet of dried kombu sitting in a drawer. Bingo.

Rather...