Secrets of sourdough

In “Bread of heaven: why we love a loaf (Focus, last week), Rachel Cooke correctly identified sourdough as a long-established (some say timeless) way of making bread, rather than a passing trend. However, sourdough is portrayed as a type or style of bread, when it’s a process. A sourdough starter culture can be used to create any type of bread that can be made using baker’s yeast. This includes panettone, brioche, naan, bagel, shokupan, croissant – the list continues around the globe. Yes, even a squishy, white sandwich loaf. We do agree that some products marketed as sourdough are overpriced. Supermarkets (and some other crafty bakers) have a tendency to slap the word on products manufactured by other means – what we call sourfaux. Chris Young, coordinator, The Real Bread Campaign, London E2