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Hungry Ghost Bread is a bakery in Northampton, MA run by Jonathan Stevens and Cheryl Maffei. Jonathan’s book — The Hungry Ghost Bread Book — is a blast to read and is filled with strong ideas, simple poetry and fantastic sourdough recipes. Here he is talking about the role of natural fermentation in neutralising phytic acids and how sourdough is not just a style of bread
Wheat naturally contains phytic acids, which impair nutrient absorption, but fermentation (inoculation with wild yeast and bacteria) actually neutralizes this food inhibitor. Yet another reason why the old revolution (Neolithic) has better principles than the new one (be it the Industrial or the Technological). This is absolutely crucial to understand: sourdough bread is not merely a “style” of bread. It is bread. That other stuff—yeasted bread and “straight” dough—that stuff may look like bread, and to some it may even taste like bread, but it is not truly digestible.
– Jonathan Stevens, The Hungry Ghost Bread Book
