In the COVID-19 pandemic, during the lockdown, people needed something to do with all the free time they suddenly had. Some people started crocheting, others got into video games, and some discovered a love of baking. Thus enters our protagonist: sourdough.

The act of breadmaking is nearly as old as civilization itself. Sourdough bread dates back to the ancient Egyptian empire, older than the Great Pyramids. As far as history and chemistry lessons go, sourdough is a fascinating topic.

Across the United States, sourdough baking and eating have become a phenomenon. Online creators whose social media presence is entirely dedicated to sourdough have gone viral. Bakeries have added a litany of sourdough creations to their menus. And amateur chefs try their hand at keeping sourdough starter alive.

Sourdough is rather unique in both its preparation and its final form. The ancient loaf takes time and effort to master, and is easy to mess up.

I think this is one of the major appeals of making sourdough. To successfully create a loaf of sourdough is a challenge. However, once the technique is perfected, the ability to make bread at home can be rewarding. 

Even for those less savvy in the kitchen, making sourdough could have an appeal. There are entire bakeries centered around sourdough loaves and confections, for those culinary challenged but still want sourdough all the time.  

Typically, those who love sourdough really love it. Sourdough fanatics have found a way to incorporate the dough into nearly anything. Sourdough pizza, sourdough focaccia, sourdough cookies. What everyone loves: a denser, more sour version of everyone’s favorite foods. Just making regular pizza dough, focaccia, and cookies is easier and always tastes better. Allegedly.

My issue with sourdough bread is that it is really not that good and way too complicated to make. To make sourdough, one must first create a sourdough starter, which is a culture of yeast that lets off an unpleasant odor. If it overferments, the bread will be wrong. If it doesn’t ferment enough, your bread will be wrong.

Then there is the bread itself. A classic French baguette is the easiest bread in the world to make. You know it’s perfectly cooked when you can take it out of the oven and knock on the bottom of the crust, and it sounds hollow. You cannot perform the same trick with sourdough because it is so dense. 

Somehow, the crust of sourdough is as hard as tree bark, and the crumb is chewy as marshmallows. I need someone to explain to me how this is a satisfying bite. 

Let us not forget that the dough is sour. And, unless another flavor is added, the bread usually just tastes like flour. You have to flour the dough so much in order for it to hold form, that the resulting bread is just floury and sour. The two best flavors. 

There’s something else about sourdough. In a certain edge of the internet, there are creators who use sourdough to dogwhistle: tradwives.

Tradwives, a portmanteau of traditional wives, are usually conservative, usually Christian women who believe that a woman’s place is as a wife, mother, and homemaker. Internet tradwives, however, are women who make videos in perfectly curated homes, in perfectly curated outfits. 

For some reason unknown to me, sourdough has become a symbol for tradwives. Perhaps it is because of the effort needed to make just one loaf of sourdough. Or perhaps it is the self-sustaining nature of the sourdough starter that is somehow akin to the “off the grid” persona many of these women try to portray. 

Whatever the reason may be, the number of women in very nice cotton dresses and aprons kneading sourdough into beautiful loaves on Instagram is strange. 

Online sourdough content is not just limited to tradwives. Many “crunchy granola” (a term used to describe someone who loves to be outdoors and maybe doesn’t use deodorant) lesbians are also sourdough influencers. 

The oddity is, of course, that these two groups seemingly have nothing in common. Apart from gender, broadly, the uniting factor seems to be that making bread is fun.

I am passionate about bread, and I am passionate about people making their own bread. The issue with sourdough, and everyone wanting to make sourdough, is that it is the worst entryway into bread-making. Making a ciabatta bun is infinitely easier, and it tastes infinitely better. A loaf of sandwich bread is versatile and only takes about two hours start to finish. A serving of naan bread will make your home smell like heaven.

If you like sourdough, I can do nothing more than urge you to learn how to make it. There are few things as rewarding as making something that you love a reality.  Fill your home with the smell of fresh bread, and pull apart the steaming loaf with your hands. Eat and be joyful.