Sourdough Starters

Boudin’s sourdough French bread is a San Francisco tradition. Last week, I had Boudin sourdough three different times. On Thursday for lunch I had a turkey cranberry sandwich with turkey, cranberry sauce, red onion, lettuce, and mayo on sliced sourdough bread. On Friday for lunch I had a turkey avocado sandwich with turkey, havarti cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, avocado on multigrain sourdough bread. And Friday night at Pier 39 on Fisherman’s Wharf, I had thick, creamy clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.

While I was growing up, sourdough pancakes were a Saturday morning tradition. We’d pull the starter crock from the back of the refrigerator and mix up the pancakes—nothing tastes like sourdough pancakes.

That sourdough starter intrigues me. Sourdough does not use commercial yeast; instead the “wild” yeast germinates and leavens the bread. After five days, the starter is yeasty and ready to use. But we use only part of the starter and refresh it with more water, flour, water, and potato flakes so it can “sour,” ready for the next use. The same starter is used and refreshed continuously, often for years and years. My parents used the same starter all the time I was growing up, and Boudin’s maintain that they have been using their mother starter since 1849.

I like that starter of the past becomes both the starter for the present and the starter for the future—all in one crock. I can’t help but think that the relationships we develop with others over the years often function as the “starter” for us.

Each of us individually represents all the people who have influenced us throughout our lives. These individuals have “started” us to become who we are now. And their influence continues to impact us as we “start” another relationship or connection which in turn grows and develops and “starts” us and others in new directions.

At the beginning of the semester when my students and I first meet, we’re all “starters,” and during the semester we eventually leaven and strengthen each other—we become a part of each others’ lives. And as we leave class, we will continue as “starters” to leaven and bless additional individuals’ lives.

I’m grateful for my students and the blessings and meaningful contributions they make in my life. They're good “starters.”