Fall in love with a mother yeast

The first time I met the mother yeast I was in my grandparents' room.
We always called him like this: the restaurant. In reality it has never been a simple place but a real magical place.

The room was the laboratory in which my grandfather, craftsman of chestnut wood, worked and created his baskets and my grandmother prepared bread and healed his mother yeast, or as we call him here in Cilento, the criscito mother of her.
It was right there, in the room, while I watched my grandmother and my mother knead the bread, which fell in love, initially without realizing it, of the slow rhythms of the nature and magic of natural leavening.

My grandmother always told me that for her the bread represented her life and I have to say that growing up, I understand more and more what he wanted to tell me.
Mixing is a bit like creating small dreams, which plan, plan, they become great, only if you managed to mix well and take care of it.

In antiquity, in the countries of Cilento and not only, the "criscito" was carefully guarded by the women of the country.
He was often one of them to take care of refreshments and then giving him every week to others so that they could prepare bread.
When I was little the time of bread preparation was a party. He started from the night to knead and was beautiful to wait for that little great miracle took shape and gave life to the incredible fumeless loaves.
So, more than two years ago I decided to give life to my first mother yeast, studying and deepening this magical world, day after day.
I understood how to pamper him at best, I dedicated my time my time, with patience and understanding, and I gave birth to a small great creature that every day gives me incredible satisfaction.

What is mother yeast

Mother yeast, or even mother pasta, is a mixture of flour, water and discretion from an activator (honey, sugar, fruit pulp, raisins) that nourishes yeast and accelerates fermentation. This mixture is left to ferment through lactic bacteria and wild yeasts.
Think that the microflora of the mother yeast is alive, in fact inside the vessel in which we place it, the wild yeasts and lactic bacteria are developed. These microorganisms produce organic acids, which greatly influence the flavor, digestibility and the nutritional value of the product made with parent paste.
In order for the activity of microorganisms to continue, yeast mother needs to be fed.
The operation with which we give "to eat" to our yeast is called "refresh" and must be carried out, when we create it, every day for 14 days, then once every 4 days, about.

Each mother yeast is unique and encloses a specific microbial combination.
When we create our mother yeast, we are aware that we will have a completely our own creature, which will be the result of the environment in which the flour is produced, of the one in which the yeast will be born and will be treated and our hands.
Each combination of bacteria and yeast will give life to different flavors and perfumes.

For this reason, recipes with mother yeast must always be calibrated according to their needs taking into account the power of yeast, temperature, of the flour used to create it and other factors.
I know this can frighten you, but it's not as difficult as it seems.
It only takes patience, love and a little practice.
Dopo un po’ di tempo, comincerete a conoscere il vostro lievito e a dedicargli le attenzioni di cui ha bisogno, nel modo corretto.
 

Lievito madre o lievito di birra?

The substantial difference between a product made with yeast and that made with yeast is the composition of yeast and fermentation times.
In the first case, the only microorganism responsible for fermentation is the yeast saccharomices cerevisiae, while in the case of products made with mother yeast, it is a complex microflora, rich in wild yeasts and bacterial colonies, to trigger the process.
The wild yeasts and bacteria collaborate and happily coexist within the mother yeast.
In fact, the nutrients available in the flour will be divided.

Why are the products made with mother yeast more digestible?

Thanks to lactic bacteria there is an increase in acidity in the mixture, one of the main reasons why products made with mother yeast are more nutritious and digestible. In fact, in the mother yeast made to ferment slowly there are bacteria and yeasts with a ratio of 100 to 1.
Bacteria are also responsible for the production of esopolisaccharides, a viscoleous matter in which they love to live. This substance provides nourishment to intestinal flora and gives an ideal consistency to products.
 

We find our slow times

Giving life to his mother yeast is a bit like reuning with our origins and with our land.
Cure the mother yeast teach us to respect the "times", to know how to wait, to live the wait, without impatience, aware of the final result.
I know it seems incredible, but this alive and magical creature also teaches us to understand ourselves and to love each other, because through its growth and its daily alveoles, it manages to surprise us and make us understand how important it is ourselves to be ourselves and express all love Which we have inside.

To realize the mother yeast we need flour, water, honey (discretion), a glass jar, a canvas and a gauze (or food film). We will have to refresh it for 14 days, every 24h, after which it will be ready for its stay in the fridge and for refreshments every 4-5 days.
Once you have created our mother yeast, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to abandon it.