Bread have a special taste or texture. At one time, all yeast-leavened breads were sourdoughs. Recently there has been a revival of sourdough bread in artisan bakeries. Traditionally, peasant families throughout Europe baked on a fixed schedule, perhaps once a week. The starter was saved from the previous week's dough. The starter was mixed with the new ingredients, the dough was left to rise, and then a piece of it was saved (to be the starter for next week's bread). The rapid expansion of steam produced during baking leavens the bread, which is as simple as it is unpredictable. Steam-leavening is
History of California bread artisan markets and large chains like Safeway or Nob Hill, and seek reasonable expansion. A good example is Sumano's Bakery in Watsonville, California, near Monterey. They produce a classic sourdough loaf with wheat flour, water, starter,and sea salt. Another, which is smaller and delivers only to small artisan markets but which will ship, is the 80-year-old Arcangeli Grocery Company / Norm's Market in historic Pescadero California famous for their Artichoke Garlic Bread among 40 other unique artisan breads, San Luis Sourdough in San Luis Obispo was founded in 1983, and makes sourdough bread with only the basic ingredients. In 1987,