Organized in Germany with submissions of breads and blogs from scores of countries around the world, it’s the ninth annual World Bread Day. You can peek at some of the scrumptious listings from around the world here.
I can’t recall how I came across this event but in the three weeks I’ve had to prepare I thought it only made sense to bake with my original sourdough. This starter comes to me from the Cripple Creek Gold Rush in Colorado in 1893. In that time no one has forgotten to nourish it, overlooked removing a cupful for later baking, poisoned it, or let it spoil. Chances are it has always been given freely from one baker to the next carrying forward a baking tradition of using sourdough leaven that dates back to the beginning of civilization. Normally, I bake with only the simplest ingredients: salt, water, sourdough, and flour. This time I had extra buttermilk so I added a little.
This batard is crisp on the outside, super chewy, very sour, and full of whole wheat goodness.
Whole Wheat Sourdough Batard