Meet the Man Behind the World’s Only Sourdough Library | Gastro Obscura

According to Karl De Smedt, the man behind the world’s only sourdough library, sourdough belongs to the entire world. Burbling away in refrigerators are over 100 sourdough starters from around the globe, all chosen due to their renown, unusual origins, and often, estimated age.
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[@atlasobscura]

What do you think? Would you send Karl your sourdough starters? Also, how cool is the job title "sourdough librarian"? Sign us up, we're there.

[@ginamariakleinmartin6503]

I would. I'd like to try his though!

[@atlasobscura]

But like... which one? He has SO MANY!

[@ginamariakleinmartin6503]

All. Of. Them. Must try ALL THE STARTERS! :)

[@atlasobscura]

That's the spirit!

[@cheshirecatgrin7680]

He should host bread tastings. It would be fascinating to taste the differences from starter to starter.

[@equestrianrosie]

My sister is a HUGE bread nerd and she LOVED THIS! so did I :D (and if she had a sourdough starter, she'd send it "fo' sho'")

[@atlasobscura]

So glad to hear it! :)

[@michigandave9680]

Making a sourdough starter is easy. Combine water and flour, with enough liquid to make it more water than flour, say 60/40 ratio. Cover it loosely and let it set out in a warm room. The flour will make itself your start. Good eats!

[@auberginelover8091]

I have a 50+ year old starter from my uncle and I live in southeast asia, Borneo. You can have mine to be put in your library. I also have a dried dehydrated starter.

[@bernardinelermite1133]

Wow, that sourdough is almost my age, loool. It's amazing !!

[@KarlDeSmedt]

First you have to register it. Go to www.questforsourdough.com and follow the steps to do so.

[@reindeercrossing]

I just heard this episode of your podcast! I’m so excited to watch this video!!

[@ddelox]

In Italian is also called "lievito madre" or "pasta madre"

[@Anna-vr2nz]

this is amazing honestly this is the best thing i have seen in a very long long time amazing.

[@FailedOrbits]

Also in Italy we actually say "lievito madre", literally mother yeast :)

[@FailedOrbits]

@スパイダーマン or maybe we are just expressing the same concept :)

[@janschipper3286]

I wonder what would happen if you mix two different starters. Would it create a more superior starter kind or will they “fight” eachother and with that kill the newly formed starter?

[@ellielynn8219]

I keep on trying to find information on this topic, that’s how I got here 😅 Like, if I combine lots of different flours in mine (like I already do) is that more of a diluted starter and not very strong? Or maybe because there are multiple strains, is it better? I can’t find info but I’m going to keep searching. 😄

[@Mintyy408]

Some say you can mix two different sourdough starters together. When you do, the two starters will combine their unique yeast and bacteria properties together. After a few days of feeding, the new starter will stabilize and form a unique characteristic of its own. Others say The strong survive, tho probably degraded. All starters stem from wild yeasts that were found to be effective or desirable for their inherent properties [taste, leavening agent, maintainability], and so cultivated. The most popular starters, like San Francisco sour dough have been cultivated for many years. The SF culture is actually a symbiotic pairing of yeasts that allows it to ward off many other invasive yeasts from taking over the starter, altho outside of the SF area it will sooner or later become exposed to the local airborn beasties and become something else again. In short, any mixing would be typically considered contamination, tho serendipity might occur and something desirable as a result.

[@NA-rs3zb]

This is phenomenal! What an excellent idea

[@TeacherMom80]

How beautiful! I just started my family's first sourdough starter about a month or 2 ago. I cook so much bread for my family that I have to keep it out on the counter & feed it every day like a little monster. 😆 My oldest son inspired me to learn! And my cousin sent me a BBC article about you! I am touched by your story & by everyone's sourdough story! 💖🙏🏼😇 How about you make a book featuring a picture of each family & their story with a picture of their starter & the recipe? 😀 You could sell copies of it to raise money for your project/library!

[@dysnomia34A]

Fantastic video. Very satisfying. I just spent some time in their virtual tour. Fantastic stories. This could be a mini-series on television. On a side note, I wish creators of online videos would include the details of the music they use. I find that is almost never the case. Atlas Obscura, can you tell me what music was used for this video, please?

[@atlasobscura]

Sure, Christopher! It's "Emotional Magical Suite" from Audiojungle. audiojungle.net/item/emotional-magical-suite/21205611

[@dysnomia34A]

Thank you!

[@SaviourV]

Just wondering: how do you build a place like this? Several years ago, I read about an "ark" of sorts that keeps grains from all over the world, including some rare ones almost thought to be extinct. And one of the grains there was purple sorghum, which, according to the article, was quite nutritious. Maybe sourdough bread made with *THAT* grain might be the best of all.

[@MrRasgabriel]

A lot of passion and a lot of money.

[@ellielynn8219]

I love this so much. 💜

[@bellalunaoxox]

Two things I will never understand: 1.) The meaning of life 2.) Why some people don’t like sourdough Yeah, I just don’t get it.

[@victorherron2767]

How fascinating and wonderful! Well done, sir. As a priest of the Syrian Orthodox Christian Church, I am strongly reminded (and you may find interesting) that our ecclesial cousins of the Assyrian Church of the East have an ancient tradition with regard to the bread of the Holy Eucharist, which they call Malca, or Holy Leaven. "A small portion of this is mixed with the dough from which the bread of the Eucharist is made, and it is claimed that this Holy Leaven . . . is derived from the Apostles themselves." This small snippet is from "The Bread of the Eucharist, by Reginald Wooley, London, 1913, available in its entirety as a PDF from The Internet Archive, for anyone interested in the details. The chapter dedicated to the Assyrian tradition runs about 20 pages, most of them pertaining to ritual matters, the Apostolic Legend about 4 of them. But I'm afraid they would never give up any of their Holy Leaven to your museum, as it is considered a sacred substance, carefully protected and never to be handled outside of that sacerdotal context. Best wishes from the USA.

[@bernardinelermite1133]

This is absolutely fascinating !... But it is not really sourdough, it is more like a small part of the original bread, no ? I think Eucharistie bread cannot undergo fermentation. Fascinating anyway from the symbolic aspect, considering that bread is 3aïch = life, and life replicates itself generation after generation, always keeping a little bit of our ancestors in our DNA.

[@victorherron2767]

Monsieur L'Ermite, bonjour. I am honoured by your interest in my comments. You are correct in thinking that Eucharistic bread is unleavened insofar as the Western churches are concerned, by which I mean the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and their derivative Protestant communities. However, the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches -- the Greek, Russian, Syrian, and Coptic, as well as the Assyrian Church of the East, all employ leavened bread for their altars. Recipes for several variations may be found at prosphora.org , although not the Assyrian. But all of these are certainly fermented. I'm not a baker, so I am no judge of whether this qualifies as sourdough proper, but it seems to me that there is a certain similarity. Monsieur, I greatly admire your passion for your art and for the preservation of these cultural treasures. Best wishes and Godspeed.

[@bernardinelermite1133]

Thanks for your answer M. Herron ! (I'm actually a lady, lol). And you are right : now that I think about it, I had fermentated bread at the coptic church in Aswan, years ago. :-) Best wishes to you, and my prayers for the Syrian people.

[@bernardinelermite1133]

Hi, thank you for this very interestng video ! I have a question : how can you insure the integrity of a sourdough once it has travelled away from its birth place ? Ok, you use the same flour as the one that was used to create and maintain the said sourdough. But as soon as you open the container, it will be "contaminated" by your local conditions and micro-organisms, and evolve into something else anyway... doesn't it ? My in-laws in Egypt make sourdough bread, but I doubt that if I take it from them (with some Egyptian flour to feed it) it will remain the same in my much more colder country, and totally different microbian environment... I have activated a dessicated sourdough bought in a supermarket, and up to now it has given me almost 20 lovely breads. But I doubt it is any longer the same bacterian mixture since I have fed it with a lot of different flours in my home. (I even have been badly sick in the winter, and I made fun of my sourdough catching my cold, lol. I know it can't, be you see what I mean). Would love to have your position about this, thanks in advance !! :-)

[@atlasobscura]

Bernardine, this is such a great question! We wish we were so much more equipped to answer this question, but we bet that the folks over at the library might be able to answer it. Here's their website (www.puratos.com/commitments/next-generation/product-heritage/sourdough-library).

[@bernardinelermite1133]

Thank you so much for your answer ! In the meantime I have seen that you had already replied to another visitor about the same concern. I'm interested in the microbiotes, actually. And sourdough is one ! Microbiotes are dynamic ecosystems. I will check the link you gave me. Best regards.

[@KarlDeSmedt]

There are indeed a lot of rumours that says that a starter will change once it is transferred to another place. But so far we did not see that happening. the life in a good mature starter is so strong and the micro organisms are with so many that any intruder does not has the chance to take over the current ones. Compare that to a fortress. We have conducted an experiment last sumer where we asked 15 bakers fropm different countries to refresh their starter with flour that we have provided them. All got the same flour and had to refresh during 10 days their starter with it. Taking samples before and after the refreshments. Guess what. There was not a single change. In the library we only refresh 6 times per year.

[@bernardinelermite1133]

That's interesting... It would also explain why it is so difficult to restore an intestial microbiote with probiotics : if the microbiote is infested by yeast, there is no way to have the lactobacillus to colonize the intestines. Yeast are very tough ultra-resistant micro-organisms. Once they have "taken a place" it very difficult to erradicate them. (The only way is to deeply modify the "field", pH-wise and carbo-hydate-wise, but I digress !) ^^

[@k.h.6991]

@@bernardinelermite1133 Karl feeds the starter with the same food it's used to. If you've got an unhealthy microbiome, there is good reason to think that adjusting your food (starting with limiting sugars) and upping the variety of plant-foods is going to help. It will take time and patience, but different circumstances create opportunities for different micro-organisms.

[@sirbatracius]

This video made me hungry.... I want some bread...

[@atlasobscura]

Yeah, we definitely understand that struggle.

[@xin-xinmah8517]

Dear sir, i started this journey of sourdough bread early 2019, because i was fascinated with the character of the bacteria. It is simply amazing how this bacteria react with other ingredients and able to produce a amazing food. Anyway, i am just as fascinated with your library of the sourdough. I have some questions to ask, hope you can answer them. 1. I mixed up all the discard into one container, and i use this to start fresh batch of starter to make my bread. Would such culture behave differently from a culture that is pure?

[@dantefuego]

THIS IS AWESOME

[@digidigoza8596]

Can I use sourdough of rye flour as yeast for pizza dough made of plain white flour?

[@izamalczykjewelry]

Yes, you can - I use rye starter for all my sourdough breads and pizzas. Rye is much more prolific when it comes to fermentation so the timeline of your pizza-making might change slightly.

[@azertyQ]

I've heard that all sourdough's will change over time, wish there was more in this video about that since the claim of just "using the same recipe so it doesn't change" doesn't fit with that.

[@KarlDeSmedt]

we also use the same flour that the bakers are providing us every year.

[@strawberryshortgirl2637]

To an extent I think you're partially right but the flour does affect it and it is how it first developed that did start the strain provided and it is fed and kept and multiplied. Obviously just looking at the jars, you can see how the starters look different from one another.

[@thecsslife]

There is also bound to be cross contamination between jars, so original strains of yeast and bacteria are likely not preserved.

[@Paumanokcom]

How old is the oldest starter ?

[@nickhenderson6246]

How often do you feed your mother starter

[@paperdave1963]

Wouldn't the sourdough starters lose their original characteristics and yeast, since the starter is fed by the wild yeast in the air in that particular area? The yeast in the starter gained from it's original location would be replaced fairly quickly by the yeast in the library. I don't see the point.

[@MrLokilis]

Microbiologist here. Absolutely, cross contamination will eventually occur if they make new batches on the kitchen counter. I hope they are treating them like microbiological cultures and "passaging" them (start a new batch) inside a class 2 biological safety cabinet (filtered air) with disinfected surfaces. I think the footage of them baking was just them making bread for sale. The loaves all looked very consistent like they were made with one starter.

[@KarlDeSmedt]

Hello I'm karl, the librarian. The fact we only refresh the starters 6 times per year reduces the chances to change their life. The protocol we use is given us by prof. Marco Gobbeti from the university of Puglia and Bolzano. The starters are stable, and as such it is not that easy for other micro-organisms to take over the dominace. Having this library allows us at least to do this kind of studies. There is no other place in the world where this initiative is taken. In the future we can still go back to the bakeries and take a fresh sample to check it with what we have in our library, the initial analysis and the new one. That way we are contributing to the fantastic world of fermentation. Every year we hold experiments with bakers from around the world to find out morer about refreshing in different places, using the same lour etc. More info can be found on www.questforsourdough.com

[@CraftyZA]

Oh what I would give for a tour of that place. Might come with a couple hundred sealable test tubes that's been sterilized. Or to have little mini buns and try the taste from different countries.

[@xin-xinmah8517]

Would you say that people whose body is high in acid should avoid sourdough that is acidic?

[@daniloco4390]

Yes I remember d tamagochi❤️😀luv this video ty

[@thebadhd5659]

First I wondered if that video was uploaded at the 1. April

[@florinvoicufv]

Why is it sealed doesn’t have to be open the lid

[@bob15479]

Wouldn't starters undergo heavy evolution, as well as the inevitable introduction of bacteria that could out-compete existing bacteria? How do we even know the starters are remotely similar to their first iteration?

[@k.h.6991]

They can take the genetic profile and apparently, that's what they did.

[@beatricelopez8048]

my favorite bread

[@michaelposthumus]

What music is used in this video?

[@bad2theBows]

I wish bread was a vegetable! id live off it

[@DrummingDave]

In the bible old Hebrew it’s mentioned as Se-or שְּׂאֹר

[@linzbelle]

San Francisco is the king of Sourdough, I don't care how many starters he has.

[@ncooty]

He makes it sound akin to heirloom varieties (e.g., his references to losing genetic diversity), but sourdough is merely a host. The wild bacteria and yeast that populate sourdough aren't in danger of being lost. What he has is a cool collection, but it's not analogous to Svalbard.

[@snickerscribbles4246]

He talks about it like that because the specific flavor characteristics of the sourdough are important to the bakeries that use them. Although the specific strains of yeast and bacteria are likely abundant in nature, it's very difficult, if not impossible to make another sourdough culture with the same balance between yeast and bacteria that will taste the same if you have to start all over again.

[@GreenMountainFox]

@@snickerscribbles4246 Agreed. It's akin to why so many people prefer certain vintages of wine. Local, perhaps even world conditions, constantly change and lead to different subtleties and flavors that may otherwise get lost with time. The bread is fortunate in the sense that it is being "kept alive" versus wine, where when a vintage is spent - it's gone forever.

[@gertie2454]

So what is the point if you don't share with the world????

[@chickenconoisseur1261]

bready

[@RedEyed2012]

I assume whatever it is that makes sourdough is similar to what is on the feet of traditional Italian grape stompers? And of the unknown things in cheese? And how many of these thingies are of human origin? Like smegma = MAGA. Food for thought.