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My 4 year old niece asked why my sourdough starter is a pet
I was feeding my starter, Frank, and she saw me. She said, 'You feed it, you keep it warm, you talk to it... that's a pet.' I laughed, but then I thought about it. I do treat that jar of goo like a living thing. It made me realize how much we get attached to our bakes, even the weird ones. Anyone else have a starter with a name and a backstory?
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willow7322mo ago
Honestly, your niece has a point about the pet thing. Tbh I've always thought of my starter, Bertha, as more of a weird roommate. She lives on my counter, I have to clean up after her, and she's kind of moody depending on the weather.
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Bertha as a moody roommate is perfect. My starter, Kevin, gets sulky if I put him in the fridge for a week. He needs extra feedings and sweet talk to bounce back, just like a real pet you board at the kennel.
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dylan_patel3d ago
Read an article once that called sourdough starters "domesticated microbial communities" and it kind of blew my mind. Like we literally took wild yeast and bacteria and trained them to live in a jar on our counter. So your niece is actually scientifically accurate. My starter is named Crusty and he gets real sluggish if I skip a day of feeding. Pretty sure he knows when I'm about to bake too because he gets all bubbly and active.
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