The mother yeast, or natural yeast, is a traditional Neapolitan preparation and is used in place of brewer's yeast for bread, pizza or desserts
We hear about cooked and raw about Naples, but we never speak badly of its cuisine and that is why to celebrate the new year we could not help teaching you how to prepare mother yeast o natural yeast. Every family in Naples, by tradition as if it were a real heirloom, hands down this preparation.
Born from the fermentation of some raising agents of the flour they produce bacteria and lactic ferments, has become a real substitute for yeast and has become indispensable for the growth of bread, sweets and other leavened products.
Ingredients:
- 200 1 grams of flour
- 100 grams of water
Prepare the initial dough:
Preparing the mother yeast is quite simple. Proceed to knead 200 grams of flour 1 and 100 grams of water, until you get a homogeneous consistency. Form a ball and let it rest in a container, covered with a
damp cloth and in a sheltered place, for at least 48 hours.
The first phase:
Proceed for at least 1 week with the daily refreshments: add the flour (in an amount equal to the weight of the yeast) and water (at a temperature not exceeding 24 ° C and in a quantity equal to 50% of the yeast) to the mixture several times. weight of flour). Before each refreshment, remove at least half of the yeast; it will seem like a waste, but the yeast is not yet ready to be used and if you do not halve it, in the end it will result in too high a quantity.
The second phase:
After the first week of the procedure, the result, that is the natural yeast, will have to be refreshed once a week, or every time we decide to use it for bread or pizza. For example, the evening before baking, refresh the sourdough and before shaping the bread, remember to keep a part of the dough to have the yeast available for subsequent times. Proceed with the refreshments and the next morning prepare the desired dough.
Whenever you need it, just refresh it at least 12 hours before use, but you will have to refresh it anyway once a week, even if you don't use it, to ensure that you always have it available. In case it gets too big, throw some away.
If you want to freeze it, it will be sufficient to pass it in a whisk with double its weight in flour (it will create a powder of yeast that can be frozen or stored for at least 1 month) or freeze as it is at -4 °.
Notes from the cook
Whenever you need to use sourdough, the usual 25 gr of brewer's yeast must be replaced with at least 200 gr of the natural one prepared by you.
