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Is ELV the only one in town who gets excited about a tour of the sourdough starters at Bon Breads?

Please tell us he’s not.

Because if he is, that will make him feel like a real food nerd. The kind of digestive dweeb who dithers over walking into a room full of 55 gallon plastic pails of heaving, pulsating, breathing, living, steaming sourdough. A gastronomic geek who goes ga-ga over fermenting grains.

Hey, wait a minute!

That’s exactly who we are!

In case you’re wondering,  we get excited because each of those tubs above are as alive and breathing as you and this nasty guy.

One of them, contains a starter brought over from France by Carlos Pereira over thirteen years ago and contains a portion of starter dough that’s over 92 years old. The other plastic containers are used to retard the dough — give it a slow rise at low temperature for close to 18 hours. After that, the various doughs will be seasoned, rolled and shaped into whatever loaves are on the agenda.

In case you’re wondering, the raw, living and breathing starter is intensely sour — not in a sharp, vinegary or acidic way — but in a full, flat, yeasty and doughy way — reminiscent of a sour mash used to make whisky. It’s not something you could bake or eat on its own, but the intensity is such that, according to Pereira, only a couple of ounces are needed to start a large batch of bread dough rising in his artisanal bakery. He also tells us they save about 20% of every batch of dough — to keep the starter alive and make sure every loaf and every roll contains a little piece of history.

It’s that history that you taste in every bite of great sourdough.

And the reason Carlos’ breads always get a rise out of us.

BON BREADS

In the Town Square Mall

6605 Las Vegas Boulevard South Suite 123

Las Vegas, NV

702.457.7797