Connecting through the Ancient Art of Sourdough
Recently, Vintage Meadows has begun carrying a new line of products from Golden Grain Bakery. Leona, the owner and baker, developed a passion for clean, simple eating after dealing with a health crisis in her own life. She began the countercultural process of changing from conventional eating to organic eating, and she hasn’t looked back. Vintage Meadows is excited to partner with her and carry Golden Grain’s products, including spelt bread (less gluten), granola, cookies, and… sourdough bread.
We are so excited to be able to offer sourdough bread again! Golden Grain Bakery did not originally intend to offer sourdough bread, but Leona, recognizing the demand for and benefits of sourdough, wanted to change that.
Sourdough is a bread form that is hundreds of years old. With minimal ingredients (flour, water, salt, and starter), sourdough goes through a fermentation process before baking. Because of this, the finished product has less gluten; the fermentation breaks down a lot of the gluten so it is easier for the body to digest. Sourdough has a low glycemic index, meaning that people with blood sugar spikes can tolerate it better than regular bread.
However, Leona had never made sourdough before, so the first step was to learn how to make it. To do that, she needed a teacher.
Enter Aimee Willis. A jack of all homemaking-related trades, mother of 5, and sourdough queen, Aimee was the perfect candidate for a sourdough mentor. A longtime VM partner and wife to Farmer John, she got a phone call from him one day, and it went something like this.
“Hey Aimee, how do you feel about teaching Leona how to make sourdough?” “Uhh, who is Leona?” “Oh, she is the Amish baker that started making spelt bread for us. She wants to learn sourdough.” “Well, okay, sure! Why not!”
A few days later, Aimee got another call from Leona herself, and they scheduled the date of her first sourdough lesson. When Aimee showed up, she brought everything they needed for some bread. She showed her the basics, and they created the first batch. The purpose of this “class” wasn’t so Vintage Meadows could sell sourdough; Leona simply wanted to learn the ancient art.
True sourdough, according to Aimee, must ferment for 8-12 hours, so after the initial lesson, Aimee headed home. Being Amish, Leona doesn’t have a cell phone, so she couldn’t text Aimee updates, photos, or ask quick questions. It truly was a trial-and-error process. Leona and Aimee continued to schedule phone calls and visits, troubleshooting Leona’s sourdough process.
“Sourdough has a character of its own,” Aimee said, “And there’s no one perfect way to make it. It’s not A + B + C and you get D. It could be anything.”
Some problems they encountered over the next few months were gummy texture, problems with getting it to rise, having rock hard bread, and the pre-baked loaves proofing too quickly in the humidity. Working together, Aimee and Leona were able to resolve each issue, building an unexpected friendship all the while.
A loaf of sourdough from Golden Grain Bakery in Lagrange, IN
Aimee previously ran her own sourdough bread business, but moving from the Chicago suburbs to rural Indiana and taking care of her family made continuing the business in the current season of life difficult. Aimee shared that, at first, letting go of the sourdough was humbling for her. She experienced frustration at wanting to have control over the situation, but instead having to settle for the role of teacher and mentor. This perspective did not last long, however.
“God gave me an opportunity to connect with someone so different from me and to walk alongside someone like [Leona], another baker friend, and have these fun conversations and make something that we love together.” The relationship had such a unique start, and is now so meaningful to both women, both of whom recognized the ancient beauty of baking bread and developed a connection through that.
“I want people to cook more,” Aimee said, when asked about future hopes regarding sourdough. “I want them to try a bread that is one of the most ancient traditions.”
Aimee also mentioned the symbolism of breaking bread, around a table, with the people you love. “Having the actual element in front of you is very special, and that bread is truly made with love. With sourdough, you have to babysit it, you have to constantly check on it. Your hands are in it, you form it, and coax it along. It’s a long, intimate process,” she shared. To be able to consume that bread is a wonderful thing.
Sourdough bakers use a special razor called a lame (la-MAY) to make the necessary yet decorative cuts into their loaves. Bakers can make these slashes in the shape of anything, but Leona chooses to make her cuts in the shape of a heart. So it’s true - this sourdough really is made with love.
The heart cut gets warped during baking, but trust that it’s there!