Alaska Sourdough, Revised Edition

Ruth Allman

Description

A perennial best seller that’s been in print for over 50 years, Alaska Sourdough—part valuable historical reference and part kitschy souvenir—now offers more than 95 recipes with even more interesting facts and Alaskan lore for sourdough fans.

Written by one of Alaska’s most foremost sourdough historians, Alaska Sourdough is a witty and useful primer for sourdough cookery. For decades Alaskans have ordered their lives around their sourdough pots, and Ruth Allman was no different. In this book she shares her own time-tested advice for home cooks and novice bakers, as well as little-known facts and history about sourdough.

Sourdough was a staple in pioneer-era Alaska and without it, folks would not survive. Alaska’s Sourdough features two types of starters and discusses the nuances of time on the starter that only a pioneer can know. The book then walks the reader through how to keep sourdough alive and the dozens of things that can be made from it—from hotcakes and waffles, to breads, rolls, muffins, and coffee cakes. But what was once utilitarian may seem peculiar today—sourdough baked Alaska? It was the only way to make such novelty desserts in pioneer time, and Ruth’s writing offers a charming glimpse back to another era. You’ll want to try some of her favorite recipes for such delights as sourdough cakes, doughnuts, cookies, and dumplings, along with accompanying sauces, syrups, and toppings.

With an all-new foreword by writer and food journalist Addie Studebaker, this new edition transports you back into a nostalgic Alaskan world filled with comfort, love, fun, and, of course, sourdough.

Contents

Foreword by Addie Studebaker

About This Book

Ruth and Sourdough

The Saga of Sourdough

The Sourdough Pot

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough Hotcakes and Sourdough Surprises

Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Waffles

Baked Alaska and Other Sourdough Desserts

Sourdough Doughnuts, Cakes, and Cookies

Syrups and Sauces for Sourdoughs

Rosehips ‘n’ Sourdough

Index

About the Author

Sujets

• Cuisine
• Cuisine par plats
• Cuisine par méthode
• Juneau
• Cooking
• Juneau, Alaska
• Dishes
• bread

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 30 mars 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781513262833
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 9 Mo

Extrait

Text and Illustrations 1976 by Ruth Allman
All rights reserved.
First printing 1976
This revised edition 2021
Photography credits: Cover StockFood / Paluchowska, Magdalena; page 1 udra11 / Shutterstock.com ; page 2 - 3 MaraZe / Shutterstock.com ; pages 4 - 5 , 10 Evgeny Karandaev / Shutterstock.com ; page 6 Mariana.Lebed / Shutterstock.com ; page 9 Dariia Belkina / Shutterstock.com ; pages 15 , 18 Zagorulko Inka / Shutterstock.com ; pages 16 - 17 , 24 - 25 , 30 - 31 , 40 - 41 , 68 - 69 , 90 - 91 , 106 - 107 , 122 - 123 , 144 - 145 , 160 - 161 Corri Seizinger / Shutterstock.com ; page 23 Maya.pics / Shutterstock.com ; page 29 pressxto / Shutterstock.com ; page 32 NataliaNN / Shutterstock.com ; page 36 S_Photo / Shutterstock.com ; page 45 Irina Goleva / Shutterstock.com ; page 53 mythja / Shutterstock.com ; page 59 Oksana Mizina / Shutterstock.com ; page 70 tanjichica / Shutterstock.com ; page 75 Tercer Ojo Photography / Shutterstock.com ; page 81 Anastasia Kamysheva / Shutterstock.com ; page 85 Fabian Pulido / Shutterstock.com ; page 94 - 95 Ivana Lalicki / Shutterstock.com ; page 98 MSPT / Shutterstock.com ; page 105 Mateusz Gzik / Shutterstock.com ; page 109 Rebecca Fondren Photo / Shutterstock.com ; page 117 ArtemSh / Shutterstock.com ; page 120 furtseff / Shutterstock.com ; page 130 Geshas / Shutterstock.com ; pages 137 , 153 Sea Wave / Shutterstock.com ; page 143 Orwald / Shutterstock.com ; page 149 Hitdelight / Shutterstock.com ; page 160 Ester Dobiasova / Shutterstock.com ; page 177 Edible Art Photography / Shutterstock.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Allman, Ruth, 1905-1989, author. Studebaker, Addie, writer of foreword.
Title: Alaska sourdough : the real stuff by a real Alaskan / Ruth Allman ; foreword by Addie Studebaker.
Description: Revised edition. Berkeley : Alaska Northwest Books, 2020. Includes index. Summary: A revised edition of sourdough expert and historian Ruth Allman s bestselling book, Alaska Sourdough includes updated recipes and tips on all things sourdough, plus a new foreword by Addie Studebaker -- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020057462 (print) LCCN 2020057463 (ebook) ISBN 9781513262819 (paperback) ISBN 9781513262826 (hardback) ISBN 9781513262833 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Cooking (Sourdough) Cooking--Alaska. LCGFT: Cookbooks.
Classification: LCC TX770 .A44 2020 (print) LCC TX770 (ebook) DDC 641.81/5--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020057462
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020057463
2021LS
Proudly distributed by Ingram Publisher Services
Published by Alaska Northwest Books an imprint of

WestMarginPress.com
WEST MARGIN PRESS
Publishing Director: Jennifer Newens
Marketing Manager: Angela Zbornik
Project Specialist: Micaela Clark
Editor: Olivia Ngai
Design Production: Rachel Lopez Metzger
Who mined at Circle and Klondike creeks,
Who camped at Nome, neath Anvil s peaks
Who founded Fairbanks, opened its mines,
And prospected where the Iditarod twines;
Who built its town, its roads and trails,
Who planned its railroads, and laid the rails,
Who guide in council, in creating homes,
And in laying a State s foundation stones.
-Judge James Wickersham 1857-1939
An Eskimo s Interpretation of Fast Day.
Contents

Foreword by Addie Studebaker
Ruth and Sourdough
Saga of Sourdough
Sourdough Pot
Sourdough Starter
Sourdough Hotcakes and Sourdough Surprises
Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Waffles
Baked Alaska and Other Sourdough Desserts
Sourdough Doughnuts, Cakes, and Cookies
Syrups and Sauces for Sourdoughs
Rosehips n Sourdough
Index
About the Author

FOREWORD
Food was scarce. You rated as a millionaire if you had plenty of grub, even though not a dime in your jeans. Provisions were more valuable than gold. One had to eat! -Ruth Allman
A pioneer should have imagination-should be able to enjoy the idea of things more than the things themselves. -Willa Cather, O Pioneers!
Y ou might be holding this book in your hands right now because you re interested in learning the secrets of sourdough or wish to add to your sourdough repertoire. Maybe you re a bit of a historian, or you simply like the idea of the pioneering life and want a taste of it. Or maybe it s Alaska-you have some immediate connection to Alaska, or, like many before you, you find yourself drawn to its mystery and allure.
Any way you slice it, you re in luck: Ruth Allman s words, recipes, and sketches, unchanged and still sought out after nearly four decades, somehow magically embody all of these, the way modern Alaska, even with its highways and chain stores, still embodies an authentic pioneering spirit, automatically plopping it over our heads upon arrival like a scratchy wool cap instead of a lei.
Not that pioneering is particularly hard to come by; there may be nothing new under the sun, but there are more than a lifetime s worth of new things to pioneer, to sink our teeth into (both literally and figuratively). It s what keeps us equal parts honest and fanciful. After all, to be a pioneer is to largely reject pretense-you re too busy surviving in your new endeavors for that-and yet, it s difficult, if not impossible, to forge into any unknown without some measure of blind, silly hope.
Knowing what there is to be known about Ruth Allman s life in The Last Frontier, it seems she was an expert at navigating this fissure between hardness and humor and had a special talent for helping others do the same. In the 1930s, with a degree in music, she picked up and moved to Alaska to live with her aunt and uncle, the Wickershams. She married and moved to the wilderness and only four years later, her husband would succumb to cancer. Ruth would then return to Juneau to care for her aunt, and it was during that time that she managed to establish The Wickersham House as a national historical site in the center of the state s capital.
The ingenuity of that endeavor not only helped Ruth afford to care for her aunt, but also preserved one of the most extensive and pristine collections of early Alaskan writings, art, and historical artifacts, acquired by her uncle, Judge James Wickersham, and dating back well over the previous century.
Ruth would then see her own writing, years worth of sourdough knowledge and expertise, published in 1976, and her recipes featured in countless national publications. She would continue to give tours and talks at The Wickersham House while serving her legendary flaming sourdough hotcakes and waffles until her passing at age 84.
It seems clear that one of her anchors in experiencing the rough pioneer life (and the equally rough ups and downs of normal life) was sourdough. And it makes perfect sense, doesn t it? There s immeasurable comfort to be found in a heaping pile of fresh sourdough hotcakes for one thing ( page 46 ), the incomparable satisfaction of a homemade loaf of sourdough bread from your very own starter for another ( page 74 ), not to mention the immense pride in the starter itself-nurturing it, growing it, sharing it. (Ruth gives us plenty of hints and patient instruction throughout.) But there s also the fundamental wildness and unpredictability of natural yeast that, like any and all of the wildness that still exists on this earth, instinctually attracts and repels something in all of us. And keeps us busy.
Many times, we prefer to leave it to the experts-to watch safely and conveniently from afar the process of engaging with the wild, whether it s watching a TV survival show or buying a loaf of bread. But there is great, visceral creative joy to be found in getting in there ourselves: incarnations of our ancestors holed up in our cozy kitchens, mad scientists working with what we ve got and contending with the mysteries of fermentation. It s that journey itself that brings out the tall tales and the rich anecdotes that sweeten and deepen our flavors with time; that inspire the kind of glittery language that sings off a page the way Ruth s recipes and stories do in their handwritten swirls and curls.
So, I invite you to pioneer through the second edition of this cookbook. We think you ll find, as many have throughout the years, that it is simply and uniquely filled to the bubbling brim with the good stuff, the really, really good, hard-to-find stuff of true pioneering grit, wackiness, and adventure as well as a few secrets to taming the fabulous food that fueled the fervor: ALASKA SOURDOUGH!
-Addie Studebaker
I was raised by Judge and Mrs. Wickersham, Alaska pioneers of the 1900 vintage. I had heard about and had experienced much of the frontier life, but only a limited amount of really roughing it.
When I married Jack Allman, our first home was miles from the nearest neighbor or grocery store. We were truly on our own. So now, sourdough was to become our main source of food-and I did not know how to use it!
Jack was an expert and a patient teacher. He had many years of experiences using sourdough and was a great admirer of its qualities. He had been dependent on it for food in the mining camps, and on the trail. It had become a way of life with him.
The first cabin we had, Jack build a shelf in back of the Yukon-stove pipe for the sourdough pot! Actually, the shelf rated top priority, as he built it before he took time to set up the bed or put up the furniture. He wanted to be certain the sourdough would be kept warm and continue bubbling-ready to keep us in food.
At that time no cookbooks were available with sourdough recipes. Everyone had his own recipe. No one considered a cookbook. Sourdough was known as the best food for energy. Mix a rich thick potato water with flour, and a spoonful or two of sugar, and you have the beginnings of a sourdough pot. Keep it in a warm place and it will begin to ferment. A wild yeast develops. The sourdough is beginning to work, emitting a profusion of small effervescent bubbles. Thus, you have created the Bubbling Sourdou