Sourdoughs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of bread made from a naturally fermented dough; the starter culture that creates the distinctive tangy flavor in a bread mixture; a method of baking that relies on wild yeast and bacteria for leavening instead of commercial yeast
2. A bread characterized by its use of a starter that promotes fermentation, resulting in a unique taste and texture; the culture used in the fermentation process to develop the bread's flavor profile; a traditional baking technique that utilizes naturally occurring microorganisms for rising
3. A fermented bread variety known for its chewy crust and sour taste produced by wild yeast; the live culture responsible for leavening and flavor development; an artisanal approach to bread-making emphasizing natural fermentation processes over rapid commercial methods

Etymology: Miners in the Klondike and California gold rushes often carried a pouch of fermented bread starter on a belt or around the neck, and that practice gave the word one of its best-known senses. The starter was the living culture that let a batch of dough rise and develop its sharp, tangy flavor, so the name came to refer to the bread made with it, and then to the baking method itself. The word is older than those rushes, though. It goes back to Middle English as "sour dogh", a plain compound of "sour" and "dough". Its relatives across the northern European languages follow the same pattern: German "Sauerteig", Dutch "zuurdeeg", Swedish "surdeg", and Icelandic "súrdeig" all combine a word for sourness with a word for dough. The plural "sourdoughs" is simply the form of "sourdough" used when referring to several loaves, several batches of starter, or several prospectors with their pouches.