Monte recently went to a sourdough and cheesemaking workshop at the local community centre.

This is our first attempt at sourdough. We tested it with South Australian olive oil and some balsamic vinegar.

The bread is heavy and dense. The crust is crisp and crunchy, but not too crunchy (that’s because we have a brilliant stove ;]). I like the sweetness of the bread; the vinegar and the olive oil give it a tang, so it’s a spicy, sweet, tangy sensation when you bite in!

The bread is based on our new ‘pet.’ The pet is sourdough yeast, which we feed 2 Tbsp of flour and 2 Tbsp of water each day. We keep the pet in the fridge.

To make the bread, add a few more cups of flour and warm water to the starter. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm to prove (we left ours on the fridge, where it is lovely and warm). It is supposed to prove overnight – ours took a few hours in the temperature of our kitchen.

The dough is runny; add more flour (we used wholemeal bread flour) and some olive oil until it feels like a ‘normal’ dough. Place into loaf tins and cook in a hot oven for a while. “Until it’s cooked,” says Monte. Once cooked, Monte took the bread out of the trays and put back into the oven. This made the entire crusts more crusty.

Delicious. I’ve had a few slices and feel as though I have had dinner. It’s our regular homemade pizza night tonight and I don’t think I’ll be having much pizza, even though that is also delicious (more on that in another post).

Anyway, gives a new meaning to eating your pet.

To find out more about Geco (the local community centre), look it up on facebook or contact us.