Amidst the chaos of a global pandemic, when the world craved a glimpse of hope, I embarked on a quest to master the elusive craft of sourdough. What else were we doing with our time if we were not dancing on Tiktok, we baked. With my empty pickle jar, flour, water, and a dose of naivety, I made my own sourdough starter.
I had no idea that my pickle jar would become part of a joke.
Growing up in Zimbabwe, sourdough was an unfamiliar concept, or perhaps my family simply wasn't exposed to it. My mother made do with what we had, and had she served sour bread, we might have easily confused it with stale loaves. However, during the lockdown in the West, FOMO made me embrace the trend and explore culinary adventures I had never considered before.
I nurtured this dough like a president of a struggling nation, giving it every grain of wheat I had while depriving myself of the bread I knew how to make. By day five, I felt so sure of my sourdough skills.
Confession time - I don't always follow recipes exactly, and at one point, I thought I knew better than the anonymous author of the online instructions. But the day of reckoning came; Bake day. The bread was inedible, and no amount of jam could have saved it. You might have thought I hadn't properly washed the pickle jar, as the bread was beyond pickle sour.
Now, let me pose a question: why does everything that is about to go wrong always seem like it's going in the right direction? Is is nature's way of deceiving us so that we're always unprepared?
In my search for answers, I scrolled Instagram, wondering if the entire country had suddenly become sourdough experts. Was I the only one who didn't succeed in this nationwide baking trend? The most surprising part is, I couldn't bring myself to discard the leftover starter, hoping that somehow it would create an edible loaf. Now, whenever I see a post about the wonders of sourdough bread, I can't help but laugh at the unpredictable rollercoaster that is baking.
Maybe I'll find the courage to try again. After all, success often comes from repeated efforts, and one doughy failure doesn't sum up my entire baking journey. Like a sourdough starter, I will rise once more.
Find what you love and let it free you. VeeNess
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