Customer Reviews

Alaska Sourdough

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ruth Allman has written an excellent book about Alaskan sourdough history and provided very tasty receipes. As a resident of Kodiak,Alaska I have been lucky enough to get some of Ruth Allmans sourdough starter. I have tried her receipes and all I can say is , wow! San Francisco look out. You get a real sense of the struggle of the pioneers with this book, and the way she describs the receipes, you can just imagine spreading the butter and jam on the bread. My favorite receipe is the hot griddle cakes with fresh strawberries. As Ruth says, the art of mixing the batter with air, and the timing of slopping it on the grill is a skill learned over time. The Baked Alaska with sourdough waffles (which by the way is how it was actually first made) is a dessert from heaven. This is a book that every sourdough making Alaskan owns.

I have been using this book since 1988, the eighth printing, and I can honestly say it is the best sourdough cookbook I have seen. The recipe's are easy to follow and the history lessons are entertaining as well. Ms. Allman has written a really fun book and I do mean written. The entire book is hand written ! Truly an Alaskan cookbook.

My poor dogeared, stained copy of this book came to me by way of my dad and brother after their trip to Alaska in 1989. Dad acquired some starter in about 1959 that its guardian said had been going since the days of the 49ers. I know it's been bubbling since then. All Dad made, though, were bread and rubbery pancakes. He, unfortunately, didn't buy a copy for himself, although I'd give anything to have him make another meal of them! You see, that's the magic of sourdough, the romance, the stories, the memories! I've not yet been to Alaska, but Ruth Allman has taken me from Cheechako to Sourdough by generously sharing her recipes and her stories with me. I read this book just for the enjoyment of it sometimes. We had her waffles this morning. I made her Flower Rolls recipe into Danish rolls for my famously fussy father-in-law. What better tribute could I make to this cook and her book than to say that he loved them! My two year old son and I will make a little fire in the woods and bake a sourdough version of bannock in Dad's old Dutch oven this week and make some memories of our own.

I found a copy of this cookbook at a local used book store and mixed up a sourdough starter the following day. It was bubbling away the next morning and I can't wait to try it in a few more days...
The directions in this book are simple to follow. The anecdotes and history provided are entertaining. The recipes all sound delicious! I'll be working my way through many of these, starting of course with the sourdough hotcakes and bread. The handwritten format just adds to the charm of the book. If you're interested in learning to make sourdoughs, this book will give you all the information you'll need.

Make the most sublime waffles - crispy outside, creamy inside, and with a flavor that beats anything else. So good that my children want them even as plain unheated leftovers later in the morning.

As a former Alaskan, I didn't want to have to do this. But after repeatedly attempting Allman's recipes and having to throw out 8-10 cups of flour and miscellaneous ingredients nearly every time--and then comparing to Ed Wood's recipes which work flawlessly, and Lisa Rayner's very excellent Wild Bread: Hand-baked sourdough artisan breads in your own kitchen, I can't help but notice that their recipes work, where Allman's fail.

I'm not a novice baker. The only thing that worked reliably was the pancakes recipe, but that can be found other places as well.

If you are looking for reliable recipes and concise information about starting a sourdough and maintaining it, I recommend any of Ed Wood's books, even his very old ones. Lisa Rayner has written a fabulous tome in Wild Bread. But pass on this book.

While some of the historical vignettes were interesting--not enough so to warrant the cost of the book. Check it out at your library if you must.

For those of us who would prefer to use sourdough starter as the sole leavening agent in making breads, this cookbook is very helpful in getting us "started". There are some receipts calling for the addition of yeast, and baking soda is often added not so much to leaven loaves as to create a chemical change which dampens some of the sourness in a very sour pot of starter. Overall, this book gives some of the best history of sourdough from a lady who knows first-hand the importance of an active sourdough starter, and will get any beginner started off making some very good breads, rolls, breakfast items & desserts. There is even a section at the end for making various products from the wild berries grown in the Last Frontier (for those of us who are able to utilize lingonberries & such)! Even for those who don't care to do a lot of baking, this book has a great deal of interesting information about Alaska & its pioneers - a great read for celebrating our 50th year of Statehood!

I got this book because of all the interesting stories and sourdough tidbits that it contained. The stories were informative, a fascinating look at history, and most of all - FUN! Then, because she made it sound so easy and delectable - I decided to try making sourdough and see what would happen. I had to go back and forth in the book a little to make sure I was doing everything correctly - the Sourdough Hints in the back were very helpful. Well, it's been a week since I mixed up the starter. The sourdough smelled "sour cream sour" and it looked OK. (I was glad not to see little black fungus or other such nasties growing on the surface like the last sourdough I tried to make 20 years ago). So I made the Quick Sourdough Bread today. I figured that was a good place to start since I didn't want to take time for the 2 risings that the regular Sourdough Bread recipe called for. It rose nicely in the pan. It smelled good. But I did take it out of the oven 10 minutes early, because it was a deep golden brown and I was afraid it would be a rock-hard loaf if I waited the full 45 minutes. I brushed butter on the crust to soften it a little (still paranoid about the possible hard crust) and waited for it to cool. I sliced it. My husband and I had one slice. Then we had another. (And, yes, then we had one more with black cherry jam!) Oh My Goodness!! I haven't had bread that tasted that good in a LONG time!! My husband put it this way, "It is a slice of Heaven!". I agreed wholeheartedly - better than candy, cake or cookies! So take it from a person who has hundreds of cook books and probably thousands of recipes and has cooked all sorts of bread for the last 30+ years - this book is worth getting. It made the best bread we have ever eaten and now I can't wait to try some of the other recipes in the book. Four thumbs up.

This book is loads of fun if you are interested in the history of Alaska Sourdough. The handwritten pages are quaint and homey. The stories are fun and recipies delicious.

I received this book as a BD gift... I love it! I live in SE Alaska, a subsistance life style... been trying to learn how to "grow" a really good sourdough... this book has been really helpful and it has some really great recipes from the early 1900's and before! Now, if I can just figure out the quirks of baking and keeping a good sourdough "growing" on my salmon troller...

If you love great sourdough, give this a try... "grow" your own using one of Ruth's recipes (included)... it is well worth the time and your guests will truly enjoy the meals you make from your sourdough jar...

h. akins
naukati, ak