You may notice many of the items we sell involve sourdough! We specialize in sourdough baked goods because we really believe in all the amazing health benefits sourdough can provide.
Sourdough uses natural fermentation as a leavening agent, allowing the rise and open structure we desire in bread. It is an age-old technique, but is often overlooked after the invention of the commercial yeast and the ability to yield faster, mass produced breads. Although this old-world method of bread baking takes 2-3 days to produce a single loaf, the process is much more beneficial to our body and health as this fermentation process breaks down gluten, making it more digestible, and neutralizes phytic acid, allowing our bodies to absorb more nutrients. Homemade sourdough bread is also less likely to cause digestion issues and intolerances.
Maintaining sourdough culture is fascinating to us, as the lineage of the sourdough culture influences the personality and flavor notes of the bread. The starters used by Madre Made have been maintained over the years, including one starter that goes back hundreds of years and originated in France. Each take on a new identity depending on their environment and "feed" on the wild yeast around them.
Although sourdough makes us think of rich, tangy, rustic country loafs of bread, we enjoy experimenting with using our starter in other baking, such as croissants, sandwich bread, bagels, and even cakes, as a natural leavener for added complexity, flavor profiles and nutrition.
Happy to be part of the Slow Food movement, Madre Made incorporates freshly milled organic grains as much as possible.
This truly complete whole-grain flour is chock-full of essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals and oils, and gives unique flavors and textures to the bread.
The steel roller mills introduced in the 1800s were efficient, but they changed the nutritional value of flour. Extracting the bran and germ components made a whiter flour that was more consistent and much less perishable, but also lacked most of the nutritional value of the original grain. There is evidence that sensitivity to gluten is made much worse by the use of highly processed and super refined flour that is stripped of its nutritional components. It may then be further exacerbated by the additives, preservatives and "enrichments” put back into the flour to replace all the nutrients that have been removed.
However, the home mill allows us to turn the whole grain into flour just before mixing up a batch of dough, so it is always super fresh and nutritional, and never just empty carbs. Whole grain flour is made by crushing the whole grain kernel, or “berry," keeping the bran and germ and all the nutrients they contain. The bran contains a high percentage of protein and fiber, along with enzymes to help digestion. The germ holds the highest density of nutrients along with fatty acids and vitamin E, while the endosperm is the fuel in the form of starch. And most importantly, the bread is delicious, light, and truly flavorful!
