Super Taster

So, my wife and I were watching one of our favorite cooking shows on TV the other day: New Scandinavian Cooking hosted by Andreas Viestad. The subject of the show related to apples and sourdough.

So, Mr. Viestad related the following story: one day he made some sourdough for a friend of his. His friend liked the bread, but had picked up an interesting taste sensation in the actual bread itself. His friend asked if the sourdough starter had been created with grapes. Mr. Viestad (who lives in Norway) had no idea: he had obtained his starter over a decade before from a friend of his who lived in England. Intrigued by this small mystery, Mr. Viestad called his friend in England to inquire about the origin of the sourdough starter. It turns out that his friend didn't really know about the origin of the starter either -- she had actually gotten the starter from a friend of her's from California. So, Mr. Viestad contacted this distant friend in California to ask about the origin of the sourdough starter. It turns out that the starter was created in Napa Wine Country, using local grapes.

My wife and I found this story to be really neat! Can you imagine -- being able to pick up the taste of grapes in a slice of bread created with a sourdough starter that was in its Nth generation of existence, originally created over a decade before? Amazing...