Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fould-Springer facilitated the development of bread making based on yeast to the
detriment of sourdough bread making. This yeast was more active, more constant, with
a nice flavour and most of all had a longer shelf life than brewer's yeast. As a conse-
quence, from 1885, bread making based on polish fermentation was becoming more
wide spread. Sourdough bread was, from that time on, called French bread.
In 1910, a bill that prohibited night work and, in 1920, the reduction of working
hours, necessitated modification within fermentation processes. Sourdough bread
making regressed to a greater and greater extent in the cities when bread making
based on three sourdoughs totally disappeared even though, in 1914, the first
fer-
mentôlevain
appeared. After the First World War, the use of yeast was extended
from Paris to the provinces. Indeed, yeast that was produced on molasses from 1922
had a better shelf life and was thus easier to distribute over long distances. However,
homemade loaves were still produced, even though they no longer existed in the
cities, in the country until 1930 in the form of the
levain chef
, kept in stone jugs, and
passed on from one family to another. The return of war in 1939 led to a further
reduction in the use of homemade sourdough bread. In 1964, Raymond Calvel [
12
]
wrote that “sourdough bread making does not exist anymore”. Indeed, baker's yeast
was systematically added to promote dough leavening, which permitted one to
obtain lighter breads. In addition, the use of baker's yeast permitted one to better
manage bread quality and to reduce quality variations. Two sourdough bread-
making methods remained in this period. The first was a method based on two
sourdoughs, which was mainly used in West and South Loire, and the second, more
commonly used, method was based on one sourdough with a high level of baker's
yeast. Between 1957 and 1960, the sensory qualities of bread decreased as a conse-
quence of cost reduction. Fermentation time was reduced to a minimum. Sourdough
bread was no longer produced. It was only during the 1980s that sourdough bread
making gained popularity again thanks to consumer requests for authentic and tasty
breads. Since 1990, the availability of starter cultures facilitated the re-introduction
of sourdough in bread-making processes. Indeed, these starters permit one to obtain
a
levain tout-point
with a single step and simplify the bread-making process. A regu-
lation issued on 13th September 1993 [
13
] de fi ned sourdough and sourdough bread.
According to Article 4, sourdough is “dough made from wheat or rye, or just one of
these, with water added and salt (optional), and which undergoes a naturally acidi-
fying fermentation, whose purpose is to ensure that the dough will rise. The sour-
dough contains acidifying microbiota made up primarily of lactic bacteria and
yeasts. Adding baker's yeast (
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
) is allowed when the dough
reaches its last phase of kneading, to a maximum amount of 0.2% relative to the
weight of flour used up to this point”. This definition allowed one to dehydrate sour-
dough with the flora remaining active (amounts of bacteria and yeast are indicated).
Sourdough can also be obtained by addition of starter to flour and water. Article 3
of the same regulation declares that “Breads sold under the category of
pain au
levain
must be made from a starter as defined by Article 4, just have a potential
maximum pH of 4.3 and an acetic acid content of at least 900 ppm”. The
syndicat
national des fabricants de produits intermédiaires pour boulangerie, patisserie et
biscuiterie
is working on a new definition of sourdough in order to be closer to the
reality of sourdough bread.
