Sourdough and French Author(s): Peter Tamony Source: Western Folklore, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Oct., 1973), pp. 265-270 Published by: Western States Folklore Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1498306 . Accessed: 29/03/2013 08:09

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[PETER TAMONY, noted authorityon American folk speech, discusses in this section various terms,phrases, and sayings that reflectthe folklore and cultural historyof the West.]

SOURDOUGH AND FRENCH BREAD Sourdoughis a made of flourand waterfermented with- out yeastfor bread. It is theleaven of the Bible, partof the fermenteddough set aside to startfermentation another time in a new batch of flourand . Largely,the word came into the Americanvocabulary at thetime of therush to the Klondikein the Yukon Territoryof NorthwestCanada in 1897-1898,the second greatgold rush in our history.Because hardyprospectors carried sourdoughin firkinsor pots on theirpersons to sustainfermenta- tion underwhatever circumstances in the frozennorth, this flavor- ful ingredientof the staffof life became so valued and character- istic the word was extendedin meaningto personifysearchers in thenorthlands, especially Alaskans, surviving old-timers of therush now meetingannually along the PacificCoast to celebratethe cir- cumstancesof theirhistoric hegira.' A shorttime after James Marshall discovered gold in the Amer- ican Riverin 1848,San Franciscobegan to be a cityof varied ethnic groups.Streaming back to The City to splurgetheir dust on plea- suresof the flesh, Forty-Niners found the sourdough bread theyhad eaten in the mountainson tables in .Most of those who joined the Gold Rush werenot miners,knowing little of the processesof extractinggold fromthe earth,once the creek and river-bedand surfacegold began to peterout. Gold-miningwas an old tradein Mexico, themethods and processesin use therebeing broughtto northernCalifornia, as is evidencedby the rastersand such rude equipmentfor breaking down quartz exhibitedat the StatePark at Coloma. Alongwith Mexican minerscame theirsour- dough.

1. "International Sourdough Reunion," San Francisco News, 16 August 1946, p. 7, cols. 2-6 (15th Annual); San Francisco Examiner, 26 September 1972, p. 3, cols. 6-8. [265]

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Because good sourdoughFrench bread was theusual run ofmany bakeriesin San Franciscoit is difficultto detail therise of its myth and legendprior to theadvent of newspaper columnists. In general, thisholds thatthe dough mustbe leavenedwith a closelyguarded sponge,starter, or motherbrought from , preferably France, over a hundredyears ago and passed fromdecade to decade in the same bakeshop; thatthe loaves mustbe baked in brickovens of a patternlong sincedisused and beyondthe skillsof modernmasons to recreate;that such ovensmust be below sidewalklevel at a pre- cise but indefinitedepth; thatthey must be firedto a certaintem- peratureby certainwoods; and thatthe resultantbaking mustbe cooled at a certainrate in air moistenedby San Franciscofog. Only when such complex elementsare conjoined does the traditional sourdoughFrench bread of San Franciscotake its place beside the Sacher torteof Vienna, the jambalaya of New Orleans,the onion of Paris. Bread-baking,or the preparationof cakes fromflour or parched grain,is an ancienthuman art. Until recentlyIndians of the Pacific Coast prepareda sortof cake fromcrushed acorns much like those consumed by prehistoricman. In Hebrew, Bethlehem means "House of Bread," leavened and unleavenedbeing wordsfamiliar throughthe Bible (Exod. 13:7; Gal. 5:9). In theMiddle Ages bakers were subjected to regulation all over Europe. London bakers formeda brotherhoodin 1155,were warnedof theirlegal obliga- tionsby King Johnin 1203; the enactmentof Pilloryand Tumbrel (51 Hen. III, stat.6) was framedfor the express purpose of protect- ing thepublic fromdishonest dealings of bakers,vintners, brewers, butchers,and such tradesmen.Oxford English Dictionary[OED] recordstwelfth-century usage of sourdough (Sauerteig), the common denominationin Germaniclanguages, levain being Frenchusage. For centuriesthe art of bread-makinghas been carried to its highestlevel in Paris,leaven (or its synonyms,sponge, starter, and mother)and timebeing thebasic ingredientsof its bread. The use ofyeast appears to have died out in France,but was revivedtoward theend of theseventeenth century, this being violently opposed by the facultyof medicine.Since, has been used by Parisianbak- ersfor fancy bread and pastryonly. Yeast causesalcoholic fermenta- tion and the production of alcohol and carbonic gas: the latter, expanding, pushes the particlesof dough asunder, causing the bread

This content downloaded from 165.123.34.86 on Fri, 29 Mar 2013 08:09:58 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WESTERN WORDS 267 to rise,and with the alcohol, is soon expelled by the heat of the . Objectionsto yeastand otherchemical additives to rectifythe quality of ,et cetera,continued through the nineteenthcen- tury,when varied efforts to systematizeand massproduce bread for growingurban populationsmet with only limited success.2 During the Colonial Period Frenchbakers emigrated to Mexico, no doubt carryingthe implements and ingredientsof theirtrade. In thecourse of theGuerrerist conflicts of 1828 foreignshops in Mex- ico Citywere pillaged, this happening becoming the basis of claims wihchengendered the so-called "Pastry War" of 1838,during which Franceblockaded ports of Mexico to effectsettlements on behalfof itssubjects. Steven F. Austinsettled in 1821,Texas secededin 1836, itsannexation entailing the war of 1846-1848.Through theseyears theleaven of Pariswas perpetuatingitself, eventually to enliventhe celebratedsourdough of theearly-day ranches on the plains of Texas and New Mexico.3 Having lived in Texas and havingfought in the Mexican War, GeorgeW. Kellerarrived in Californiain 1848.In 1948 his daugh- ter,Annie Keeler Williams, related storiesof the early days of Californiatold her by her father.Tuolumne Countyrecords attest he boughtthe French Hotel in Sonora on 12 October 1849.As she recalls his words,Mrs. Williams writes,"Then too, I obtained a dutchoven and baked whatwe call sourdoughbread. This was the Mexican way of baking bread," and "Baking was done in Dutch and oftenthe bread or flapjackswere baked in fryingpans, the same as the minerdid in his camps."4G. D. Brewerton,Over- land withKit Carson(1853) writesof "bakinga quantityof biscuit in one of thosethree-legged contrivances known to the initiatedas a 'Dutchbake-oven'" (New York, 1930, p. 280), OED recording 1769 usage (oven, sb. 2 a). Among the bakerieslisted in the San FranciscoCity Directoryfor 1856 are the FrenchBakery, Beraud Freres,Deu's, Mme. Lantheaume,and LeagayK& Co. Grocersof the firstdecades of thiscentury recall Frenchbread and bread as equally best sellers,most housewives doing theirSaturday bakings withyeast.

2. Encyclopaedia Britannica,9th ed., s.v. "baking"; 11thed. s.v. "bread"; "PastryWar, 1838," vol. 18, 339b. 3. Rose P. White, 'The Sourdough Biscuit," WesternFolklore 15 (1956): 93-94. 4. Annie Keeler Williams, Early Days ([Glendale, Cal.: Murphy Printing Co.] 1948), pp. 15, 19. Copy in California State Library, Sacramento.

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In Francebread is not called Frenchbread, this being a naming forvaried types in otherplaces, as to San Franciscothe referent be- ing to the traditionallength of the Frenchloaf. Phil Harris, the band leader-entertainerof Jack Benny, attests that good sourdough bread is currentlybaked in Mexico. Harris was accustomedto go to Tia Juana for his supply until soured by customsinspectors who slashedhis loaves,suspecting contraband often associated with musicians.The head of the Chef'sAssociation of the PacificCoast reports that Leon, Mexico, "has beautiful sourdough French bread," while columnistGuy Wright,questioning the climatic myth,cites sweltering Saigon. Visitorsto Mexico are servedwarm hard-crustbreakfast rolls, bollos, which are recalledby Lu Watters ofYerba Buena JazzBand fame,as beingserved in a smallMexican restaurantin the nineteen-twenties.5 Old-timerswonder at newspaperstories of Frenchbread being takenacross country in batches,or beingshipped afar, as a gourmet delight.Such loavesmay be baked in smalllots, as thestuff generally merchandisedis not of the quality sold formerlyat everycorner. The hard crustis the same,such still breakingthe inlays,fillings, and platesof thosewho do not visittheir dentists twice a year.The last of the undergrounds,the North Beach French-ItalianBakery, ownedby a Swissmaster who dailyproduced 700 loaves,suspended bakingin 1966.6Old countryItalian bakers,who spreadover San Franciscoafter the Earthquakeand Fire of 1906,made sourdough Frenchbread the equal of any: the pleasantsmell of Ferro Bros.- Torino Bakeryat 23rd and York characterizedits area of the fog- freeMission Districtfor several decades. The complex of modern time,mechanization, and men have contributedto the eclipse of thetraditional genuine loaf, and thecertainty of its production. The startermust leaven at least fourteenhours, preferably longer, such settingsrequiring costly space et cetera,a b&tenoire of insidecapi- talism.Gas ovensand line conveyorsare now standardfor mass pro- duction.Younger bakers, in thehurry-up of thetimes, do not readi- ly inheritthe nuances and practices,the traditionsof aging crafts- men saggingfrom the scene. Systematicstudies of the "Nature of the San Francisco Sour

5. San Francisco Examiner, 1 April 1970, p. 39, col. 1, Tia Juana; ibid., 14 August 1970, p. 24, col. 8, Leon, Mexico; ibid., 1 September 1970, p. 29, col. 2, Saigon. Bollos were recalled by Sharon Huega McDonald and Lu Watters in conversations. 6. San Francisco Examiner, 2 March 1966, p. 10, cols. 1-8, illus.

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Dough French Bread Process" (I. Mechanics of the Process; II. MicrobiologicalAspects), by Leo Kline,T. F. Sugihara,and Linda Bele McCreadyof the WesternRegional Research Laboratoryof theDepartment of Agriculture at Albany,California, were printed in theApril 1970Bakers Digest, 44 (2), pp. 48-50, pp. 51-53, 56-57. In thesestudies two unusual microorganismsresponsible for sour- ingactivity remained unidentified. Berkeley entered a researchcon- tractwith Oregon State University at Corvallisentailing $49,000.00 to supplementits work, sophisticated techniques of genetic analysis not being available there.San Francisconewspapers greeted this grantwith space-filling, half-baked effrontery.7 However, a previous- ly undeterminedspecies, a microorganisminvolved in the dough, LactobacillusSanfrancisco, was verified.Such supportiveevidence is essentialfor scientific communication as well as the processof patentapplication, now beingexamined and waitingassignment to the people of the United States.There being a verySan Francisco element,the problem of thefuture is itsculture and propagationto flavorFrench bread of a sourdoughquality that formerly enhanced the tablesof The City,as well as its distributionto otherparts, so thatgood, tastybread maybe available fora change.8 In San Francisco'ssocial life nostalgiaand narcissismplay parts. Promotedby the auxiliaryof the PresbyterianHospital as a fun eventon 27 March 1973 was a sourdoughFrench bread tasting.An entryof the Frisco Bakeryof Los Angelesdid not arrive,but one fromSonoma did. The VenetianBakery baked a loaf tenfeet long, requiringopen windowsof the deliverycar. The upper crustor bestbread selectionof a banker-gourmetand professionalathletes? Columbo Bakeryof Oakland, with Toscano of Oakland second.The sole businesssign in an 1879photograph of what is now downtownOakland reads "UnfermentedBread Bakery."9(Part of the growthof Oakland in the last centurywas of San Franciscans who moved acrossthe bay because of social and sinfulconditions (seaport,Barbary Coast). Generally,years ago Oakland was a Protes- tantchurch city, and would have been receptiveto the purchaseof "Biblical" unfermentedbread.)

7. San Francisco Examiner, 20 August 1970,p. 1, cols. 1-8; ibid., 21 August 1970,p. 36, col. I p. 37, col. 3; ibid., 24 August 1970, p. 30, cols. 2-3 (cartoon). 8. San Francisco Chronicle, 21 August 1970, p. 1, cols. 2-4, p. 26, cols. 4-5. 9. San Francisco Examiner, 23 March 1973, p. 25, col. 1; ibid., 28 March 1973, p. 25, col. 1. Pony Express Courier (Placerville, Cal.), V, 2, p. 1 (July 1938).

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APPENDIX: NEWSPAPER SOURCES

San FranciscoProgress, 22 June 1960,p. 7. San FranciscoExaminer, 24 January1960, Pictorial Living, pp. 14-15. Ibid., 27 August1961, PL, pp. 16-17. Ibid., 8 November 1964,People, p. 10. Ibid., 30 January1966, Sunday Punch, p. 8. Ibid., 2 March 1966,p. 10. Ibid., 14 August 1970,p. 24. Ibid., 21 August 1970,pp. 36, 37. Ibid., 22 September1970, p. 44. Ibid., 19 March 1972,California Living, pp. 20-27: guide to bakeriesand . San Francisco Chronicle,4 November 1966,p. 17. Ibid., 21 August 1970,pp. 1, 26; p. 42.

CALIFORNIA FOLKLORE SOCIETY 22D ANNUAL MEETING

The twenty-secondannual meeting of the California Folk- lore Society will be held at California State College, Sonoma, Rohnert Park, 26-27 April 1974. Persons wishing to present papers should communicate with Eleanor Long, Santa Clara University. Accommodations are available at the Holiday Inn, Santa Rosa, California, Local arrangements are being made by Eli Katz and Herminia Menez, Ethnic Studies Department, Cal- ifornia State College, Sonoma.

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