When  flour meet  water  a magic happens, a magic that has been repeated for thousands of years (there are yeasts which has “worked” for over a hundred years) and that could happen in our homes, through our hands: the Bread.

Bread is the food par excellence, its scent binds us to childhood memories, its various forms make us play with fantasy. I’m sure many of you make bread at home: in my house is made with sourdough: more intense aroma, special flavor and fragrance, thanks to the type of fermentation, the presence of lactic acid and acetic acid as well as strains of microorganisms that make up the yeast.

The “mother yeast” is a spontaneous fermentation which takes place when water and flour meet, to which follows an increase in volume of the dough – the leavening – to be used as a normal yeast.
The fermentation of lactic acid bacteria produce organic acids and allows greater output growth and a higher digestibility (due to proteolysis due to LAB and longer processing times) as well as “shelf life”.

The dough should be cared for, pampered, kept away from drafts, heat or cool depending on the season, and kept in an airtight jar, refreshed without spending too much time between a user and another. The refreshment is the “nutrition” of the yeast that allows it to remain in force between a break and the other.

There are several techniques, today I will tell you as I do:
I take the dough out of the fridge, I let it stand at room temperature, take off the upper crust and the weight; add 1/2 of the weight of water and 3/4 of the weight of flour of type “0”. (Example: 200 grams of sourdough +100 grams of water + 150 grams of flour). Work well together with  hands to form a ball that I’m going to make a cross cut. I leave the rest in a bowl covered with film, in a good warm place, up to a doubling of the dough when it is ready to be used.
I will make bread, focaccia or pizza.

For both bread and pizza I suggest to put at least 400 g of yeast per kg of flour. Example: 1kg of flour, 600 g water, 400 g of yeast and 30 g of salt.
For several years the Community Pasta Madre  (http://www.pastamadre.net/) has helped the  “dealers of sourdough” (more than 1700 in Italy), people who provide free, then and now, their dough, to anyone who requests it.