I was at the library about a month ago and chanced upon a book by Nigella Lawson. I browsed through the pages. There were a lot of interesting recipes in the book but the one that caught my attention was the sourdough bread in the Bread chapter. That sealed the deal. I was going to borrow this book.
Unfortunately on that particular day, the library stop had occurred after I had passed by the butcher and the grocery. Much as I had wanted to borrow the book right there and then, I couldn't because I already had my hands full.
So the weekend after, I dropped by the library again and borrowed these two books. Both of them had sourdough bread recipes. Something inside me had been triggered-- must ... bake ... sourdough bread.
The thought of sourdough bread always brings back happy childhood memories of Father coming home from business trips, especially the trips from California. When he unpacked his luggage, he would bring out a loaf or two of sourdough bread from the Fisherman's Wharf. We would slice up the loaf, dab some water on the crust then put the slices on the toaster. Once toasted, we would have it with butter. Oh yeah! Those loaves disappeared real fast.
There were sourdough bread recipes in the Better Homes and Garden cookbooks we had back home. We tried to replicate the ones Father brought home but they never quite came out the same. Then one day, we discovered this magic packet.
The first one came from Mother and Sister Deer who had brought it home from a food convention they'd attended in HK. Many years later Sunshine brought me home a packet from the States. Anyway, both times we managed to keep the starter alive for quite a while and made many a loaf of sourdough bread. They were not the exact replica of the San Francisco version but they were still pretty good.
Both the sourdough recipes found in the cookbooks I had borrowed recommended using rye flour or bread flour, neither of which were readily available in our pantry. I had read somewhere that it was possible to use a small piece of sourdough from a baked loaf to make the starter. I had never tried it before but since the chances of getting a Goldrush packet were next to nil, I decided it wouldn't hurt to try this method. Last week, I found a loaf on sale at Woolies and pinched off a bit of the sourdough bread which I mixed with some flour and water. The starter is now on Day 3.
Sourdough was on my mind when I went on Skype this afternoon. Sister Deer is in Manila this weekend and was at home when I called. She was happy to chat. After she showed off the mangoes and the lanzones they were about to eat (to make me envious and to encourage me to come home), she told me that she had sent something off in the mail for me. I didn't ask what it was because I wanted it to be a surprise. (She sent me a postcard of an abstract painting from Macau some time back. Several years ago she sent me some Christmas stamps. As you know, it is always fun to get snail mail once in a while.)
She went on to say that while she was at the post office, she had to take out her glasses from her bag so that she could read my address from her mobile. As a result, she ended up leaving her glasses case at the post office. (Ohhhh!!!! I'm sorry I caused you an eyeglasses case, Sister Deer. Thanks in advance for my snail mail surprise though.)
Yesterday, we were on a group call with them but we were unable to see their video. Sister Deer is celebrating a special birthday this year and the family had prepared something special for her - a birthday card and a photo collage. Since she was home from HK, Z decided it would be a good time to give Sister Deer her surprise even if her birthday is still in December. The rest of us in the call (Eldest Sis and Mindy) complained that we could not see their video on the Skype, but Z said there was no better time than the present. She promised to take a video so that we could see how the event unfolded. (Needless to say, Sister Deer was happily surprised.)
So this afternoon, after Sister Deer passed on the Skype call to Z, Z showed me the video of the card and gift presentation from the previous day. She held up Mother's phone against the camera so that I could see the video as Z played it on the phone. As we continued our conversation, I mentioned the sourdough starter. I was teasing when I said that it was possible that the cover of the starter packet was still there. I sent Z a link of the image of the Goldrush starter as she went to check the cupboards in the kitchen. (As expected, the packet was no longer there but I did get to see the familiar baking pans, hand mixers, flour containers, pancake mixes and more.)
I don't know whether it was all the talk about the starter, the search in the kitchen or Z finally clicking on the link but something caused Sister Deer to break. She finally admitted that the thing she had mailed me on the day she lost her eyeglasses case at the post office was none other than ... two packets of Goldrush sourdough starter!!!
What are the odds?
(What can I say? Ask and ye shall receive.)
Now I am quite excited to get mail. I just hope the packets don't get confiscated by customs and border patrol.
