Covid-19: Sourdough

A couple of weeks ago, before the shelter-in-place directives took effect but after people started freaking out that something serious was going on and all the toilet paper flew off the shelves, along with all the potatoes, and hand sanitizer, and even bread, I reasoned that David and I are clever beings, and we'd make do. (Fortunately, we already had a 12-pack of TP in the garage.)

I was thinking specifically of making bread. So much better than store-bought! I used to really enjoy making bread! And in a pinch, I do have a breadmaking machine.

And then I started seeing photos on Facebook: fresh-baked wholewheat bread; sourdough bagels rising; succulent focaccia; plump English muffins. It went on and on. Everybody was baking! 

More to the point, everybody was talking about sourdough.

It was then I found that all the flour and yeast had flown off the shelves as well. I have flour, so that wasn't an issue. But I seriously regretted having, in a recent fridge-purging session, tossed a packet of recently expired yeast. What was I thinking?

Well, for one, I wasn't thinking a pandemic was coming.

But that explained all the talk of sourdough. It's a natural yeast.

And then this morning on Facebook, I saw this post:

It's a telephone pole in San Francisco: FREE SOURDOUGH STARTER.

A longer version of the attached note goes, “His name is ‘Godrick,’ a white flour sourdough starter, he likes to be kept warm and fed regularly. Sourdough is wildly delicious, time consuming (you know you got some), shelf stable ingredients (water, flour, salt, and Godrick) and veeeerry good with butter. If there aren’t any starters left attached to this pole, call 415-555-5555 and I’ll make more.” An actual phone number: talk about trust!

Although this kind offer is no longer in effect (the person behind the giveaway worried about the possibility of virus transmission), it is the sort of act that gives me hope—not just that we'll get through this pandemic (though I know it will be rough), but hope for humankind. 

In the meantime, I have two standing offers of some sourdough culture locally, and one offer of yeast. I just finished a job that took all my attention and am finally ready to spend some time on myself, relax, maybe even play a little. And finally, bake some bread.

Today's Monterey county count: 48 cases (up 18 from a week ago), 2 deaths.

Stay inside. Stay safe. Stay healthy.