Title: Wild Sourdough
Author: Yoke Mardewi
Publisher: New Holland (224 pages)
Grab: an apron

As the owner of a brand-spanking new bread maker (oh, how I love it), I was looking forward to getting Wild Sourdough to expand my bread making repertoire.

After a brief moment of disappointment when I discovered that these sourdough recipes aren’t bread maker friendly, I rallied to become quite enthralled with the approach Mardewi has to making sourdough bread.

In addition to more than 45 sourdough recipes, Wild Sourdough includes information about the use and benefits of a variety of flours (wheat, spelt, kamut, emmer, einkorn, durum, rye, oat, barley), discussion of gluten and gluten-free grains and detailed instructions on establishing a sourdough starter. Mardewi uses three different methods of making sourdough depending on the recipe: Straight, Starter or Dough Retardation.

I really liked Mardewi’s practical, back-to-basics approach adapted for home cooks. Her instructions are clear and she has included a contact email address should anyone require further assistance. The recipe layout includes the time needed for each step and throughout the book as Mardewi explains what to do, she includes information on why particular techniques or ingredients are important and what role they play in the overall bread making process.

In addition to standard sourdough loaves, there are recipes for grissini, brioche, panettone, pastry, chapatti, ciabatta, Turkish bread and crispbread. There are even sourdough cake recipes including a sourdough Christmas cake and sourdough chocolate cake (which I can’t wait to try).

While I’m not quite at the stage of milling my own wheat, I do enjoy spending time baking and I’m looking forward to trying out several of the recipes in this book.