[CH] Old Food
Ashkenaz, Scott (Scott.Ashkenaz@kla-tencor.com)
Wed, 23 Dec 1998 14:21:54 -0800
I thought that I would try this as my first stop on a search I'm beginning.
Although not chile related, one could imagine taking it that way.
I used to have two different cultures (yes, there are those who claim I have
none), one for sourdough, and one for rumtopf. Eventually, they died, and
I'd like to try to replace them.
The sourdough starter (named Grandson of Seymour) was 150 years old. It
required lots of care - 1 cup of flour and sugar each week. He lived in the
refrigerator, and only came out to be fed or divided for pancakes, bread, or
for passing on to others. There are sourdough starters on the market, but
none have the richness of this guy who had been passed along for so long. I
let him lapse while I was a student.
The 90-year-old Rumtopf (German for rum pot) was made of peaches, cherries,
and pineapple - a cup of one was added each month along with a cup of sugar,
and then allowed to ferment. It was great on ice cream, pound cake, or in
breads and cakes. While I was living in Japan, it went bad and fungussed
out. It turned out that all of the people I had passed it on to had not
maintained it, so it was the last of its line. I was depressed for a month.
While both could be started up from scratch, the taste does not compare. I
would like to try to replace these with something of similar age. Any ideas?
Thanks.
scott@finally stable enough to make the commitment