Sourdough Culture

A History of Bread Making from Ancient to Modern Bakers

By: Eric Pallant

Narrated by: Daniel Henning

Sourdough bread fueled the labor that built the Egyptian pyramids. The Roman Empire distributed free sourdough loaves to its citizens to maintain political stability. More recently, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, sourdough bread baking became a global phenomenon as people contended with being confined to their homes and sought distractions from their fear, uncertainty, and grief. In Sourdough Culture, environmental science professor Eric Pallant shows how throughout history, sourdough bread baking has always been about survival.

Sourdough Culture presents the history and rudimentary science of sourdough bread baking from its discovery more than six thousand years ago to its still-recent displacement by the innovation of dough-mixing machines and fast-acting yeast. Pallant traces the tradition of sourdough across continents, from its origins in the Middle East’s Fertile Crescent to Europe and then around the world. Pallant also explains how sourdough fed some of history’s most significant figures, such as Plato, Pliny the Elder, Louis Pasteur, Marie Antoinette, Martin Luther, and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and introduces the lesser-known—but equally important—individuals who relied on sourdough bread for sustenance: ancient Roman bakers, medieval housewives, Gold Rush miners, and the many, many others who have produced daily sourdough bread in anonymity.

Each chapter of Sourdough Culture is accompanied by a selection from Pallant’s own favorite recipes, which span millennia and traverse continents, and highlight an array of approaches, traditions, and methods to sourdough bread baking. Sourdough Culture is a rich, informative, engaging listen, especially for bakers—whether skilled or just beginners. More importantly, it tells the important and dynamic story of the bread that has fed the world.

©2022 Eric Pallant (P)2022 Podium Audio

Really enjoyed this book!

Learning the history of sourdough particularly trying to find the history of the author’s strain

good content. Performance.. ehhh

story and content was great. learned a lot. performance was lack luster. used the same cadence over and over again.

Loved this!

Very entertaining story of the journey Pallant takes to learn the history of his sourdough starter. Filled with interesting history, science, and some recipes. I enjoyed Henning’s performance.

A must for sourdough lovers

I really enjoyed how he went deep into the history of sourdough. Something you never think of in modern times is that people went to war over bread.
I also enjoy how he experimented on starters from different parts of the world and saw if it affected the taste. Great book and highly recommended.

A lovely ‘Hearth’warming history lesson

What a wonderful historical adventure into a portion of the history of the ‘bread of life’.

A joy to read and a joy to listen to

Sourdough Culture by Professor Eric Pallant is a joy to read and for me a pleasant surprise. The book is informative throughout and exceptionally well written. The chapters flow one to the other along a logical storyline and material on the history and science of topics such as fermentation that might otherwise be dry really came to life.

The author’s quest to unveil the origins of his prized sourdough starter (lovingly named Cripple Creek) is the thread that runs through the book and ties it together nicely. I ended up learning a great deal more about topics with which I was already familiar. It was very enjoyable to learn about the pre-history of bread making from the vantage point of an archeological site on the edge the Sea of Galilee. Pallant’s queries have planted new lines of thought for future study. A strong indicator of the quality of a non-fiction work is whether it leaves enough of an impression that I end up wanting to pursue more knowledge along related avenues. For example, I now plan to learn more about the biology of ancient grains and find out which ones might be used to enhance my own baking today. Looking forward to it.

As a special note it should be mentioned that my first contact with Sourdough Culture was through Audiobook, and I’m very glad I did it that way. Currently I own a paper copy of the book but the actor (Daniel Henning) who performed on audio was excellent; he read briskly with a contagious energy and I think his voice brought out the wry humor and nuances of the author’s thought process. Sourdough Culture is highly recommended both for tantalized beginners and people who already have the bread bug. - RP Paczynski, Harrisburg PA--

Richard Paul Paczynski
Harrisburg PA

Wonderful!

I have recommended this to all my baking friends. It is a delightful read/listen.

What an awesome book!

If the title grabbed your attention then start listening now. This book was great and the narrator was perfect.

Excellent Sourdough Story

I really enjoyed this book. It was a well told tale and full of interesting facts and anecdotes. Highly recommended, whether you already adore sourdough baking or are not yet hooked......

Fun Facts from bread history

This is a very enjoyable read. I'm a sourdough baker and Pallant has put together an interesting history from several parts of the world. If you bake bread you would like this book. Sometimes he follows a few rabbit trails and gets a little bogged down with details. TMI for sure. In spite of that, it'a well worth the effort.