* Gene Benzing 2003-10-25:
I just returned from the Ukraine a couple of weeks ago and one local bread I
tasted was awesome! I was at one old grandma's house in a village near
Brusilov and had some of her sourdough bread and it was unbelievable.

I ordered some Russian culture from SDI hoping to somehow figure out how to
reproduce the taste. Quite a challenge since I don't have access to the
same flours, water etc. used in the Ukraine.

Anything I need to know about using, feeding the Russian culture? I have
been using SDI SF and Carl's for several years now. Any particular recipes
seem to work best with the Russian culture? How well does it work with
recipes containing rye flour?

I know nothing about authentic Ukrainian (or Russian) bread, but I do
have experience with the two cultures you mention from SDI (Russia &
OSF) as well as my favorite Carl's. I find that the SDI Russia culture
acts more like Carl's and less like OSF. Carl's and Russia I find to be
very fast acting powerful risers. I find OSF to be slower, less
powerful but ultimately more sour. Personally I like Carl's for raising
bread but give OSF a slight edge when it comes to flavorful sourdough
soda pancakes. BTW, I generally prefer mildly sour bread so YMMV.

I think you could probably substitute the Russia culture for Carl's in
most recipes with little or no change in timing.

If you succeed in reproducing your favorite bread from the Ukraine
please let us know!

--
Steve W
s (dot) wal (at) verizon (dot) net