The Handshake: The Baker's Skin Microbiome
Your hands are not sterile tools. They are a thriving ecosystem, a landscape of ridges and valleys populated by millions of bacterial residents. When you knead a loaf, you are not just shaping structure; you are performing a biological handshake. You are introducing your own microbial signature to the dough.
The "Sourfaux" Guide: How to Spot Sourdough Fakes
True sourdough is the result of a biological pact: a slow fermentation of flour and water by wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria. This process takes time—often 24 to 48 hours—to break down gluten, neutralise phytates, and develop complex organic acids.
"Sourfaux," a term coined by the Real Bread Campaign [1], refers to bread that mimics the taste of sourdough without the time or the biological benefits [1]. It is fast food dressed up as slow food.
The Sourdough Ash Ratio
When you feed your starter exclusively with white bread flour, you are effectively putting your microbial colony on a diet of pure sugar while denying them the vitamins they need to metabolise it. You are creating a starter that is energy-rich but nutrient-poor.
Meet Your Baker: F. sanfranciscensis.
Meet the rod-shaped bacterium with a name that barely fits on a label: Fructilactobacillus sanfranciscensis. This organism is the engine of the sourdough ecosystem. And its history is stranger than you think.
Ghost Probiotics: Why Dead Bacteria Still Talk
If you view probiotics solely as "live microorganisms," then sourdough is a barren wasteland. It is sterile. But emerging research into the gut-brain axis suggests something profound: bacteria do not need to be alive to speak to your body.
The Gluten Free Loophole
Sourdough is not defined by wheat. Sourdough is a technology. It is the biological protocol of using microbes to unlock the nutrition of a seed. And here is the loophole: The pact applies to every seed.