Sourdough Bread and "Second Hand News"
Bow bow bow bow bow bow bow bow (doo-doodly doo)
Welcome to the Double Feature! Each week I write one thing about entertainment and one thing about food. They’re not related, unless for some reason you think they are, in which case it was definitely on purpose.
I made: Sourdough Bread
I know how to bake bread with store bought instant yeast. That’s how I learned to bake bread, and I still turn to yeast off the shelf most times I want to make a loaf. I know how it works, I know how long it takes to rise, I know when it’s proofed, and I know for the most part exactly how the loaf will turn out.
Using a sourdough starter feels like baking blindfolded. When you use a starter to bake bread, you’re relying on a fermented culture of “wild yeast” to make your bread rise. To make a starter, you leave an equal parts mixture of flour and water on the counter and give it regular feedings of more flour and water for long enough, then some alien life form takes up residence in the mixture, and you can use it to bake unbelievably delicious bread.
However, using a starter culture can be unpredictable if you don’t have experience. You’ve entered into a contract with your new jar of living goop, but you have no idea if it will hold up its end of the bargain. It forces you to be much more in tune with the dough as you’re making it. You must watch it for signs of change, feel it with your hands to see if it’s become airy enough, even smell it to see if the fermentation is still happening. It’s a total sensory experience.
I’ve flirted with sourdough bread baking a few times, to mixed success. The first time I did it, I relied too strictly on the written recipe that I used, going by the timings listed and not by the look and feel of the actual dough. Also, I didn’t know how to tame the beast that is sourdough. The starter needs more water in the dough to create more fermentation, which creates the network of tiny air pockets that make the dough rise. This extra water makes the dough stickier and much more difficult to handle. I couldn’t shape the dough properly, and I was left with a loaf of bread that looked more like a frisbee than something you could use to make sandwiches.
Each subsequent try has been a step in the right direction. I watched YouTube videos on proper shaping technique. I learned to respect the starter as my strange partner in the kitchen. I keep my wits and my senses about me, ready to watch for the telltale signs of dough readiness. But making sourdough still feels like walking a tight rope between two skyscrapers while also defusing a bomb. And I love it! It’s a thrill that keeps me ready for everything to go wrong at any moment.
It reminds me of how I used to feel baking with store-bought yeast, because I didn’t always know how it would behave. It took me a while to get to the point where I am now with it, and sourdough lets me challenge myself all over again. Maybe at some point I’ll master sourdough, but for now I’m going to enjoy the ride and the extremely low-grade adrenaline rush I get from opening the oven to see if everything actually paid off.
I listened to: “Second Hand News” by Fleetwood Mac
Music critics have been heaping accolades at the feet of Fleetwood Mac’s album Rumours since its release in 1977. Rolling Stone recently named it the seventh best album of all time. The songs “Go Your Own Way”, “Dreams”, “The Chain”, and “Don’t Stop” are all certified classics, it’s almost shocking that they all came from the same album.
Much has also been made about the mythology behind the album: the two couples within the band (Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham; Christine and John McVie) both went through dramatic splits, while drummer Mick Fleetwood went through a divorce with his wife. The recording sessions were all-night ragers, with much of the actual recording being done in the wee hours of the morning while the band was zonked out of their minds on every drug available in Sausalito, California.
But not enough has been written about what a banger the album’s first song “Second Hand News” is. “Second Hand News” absolutely rips while also being maybe the goofiest song ever written, a true testament to a band at the height of its powers.
“Second Hand News” rules. It kicks off the album perfectly, acting as the album’s thesis statement, setting the tone for everything to follow. It’s danceable, it’s about heartbreak, but most importantly it’s about a guy who just wants to be laid down in the tall grass and allowed to do his stuff. And it is by far the best song ever written about a guy who just wants to be laid down in the tall grass and allowed to do his stuff.
The song has no chorus. Or, on the other hand, it has the best chorus ever written. In lieu of lyrics, Lindsey Buckingham just goes hogwild and scats his goddamn head off, rhythmically yelling “bow” over and over again. Not satisfied with this masterpiece of songwriting, he then puts a cherry on top with a beautiful “doo-doodly doo.”
It’s fantastically stupid and the most fun thing in the world. It is impossible to listen to this song and not have the time of your life.
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