Sourdough Starter a la Nancy Silverton

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The sourdough starter in my house comes from Nancy Silverton’s fantastic book ‘Breads from the La Brea Bakery’.  This is a very much shortened version of the recipe, which takes up a good ¼ of the book in her version.  Lots of the space is taken up describing how the starter should look and smell at each stage of the process, but there are some very humorous parts.  My favorite is where she acknowledges that it is hard to feed the starter three times a day if you work—so you think she is going to cut you some slack—but no, she is going to tell you to take it to work with you!

Here is the Cliff notes recipe for her sourdough starter:

• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 1/2 cups water, un-chlorinated
• 1/2 lb red grapes, unwashed organic stemmed

Directions:

1. Wrap the grapes in well washed cheesecloth, tying the corners to form a bag; lightly crush them with a rolling pin (to release the sugar to mix with the natural yeast on the skins; just like making wine!) and immerse them in the flour water mix. Cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap secured with a rubber band. Leave at room temperature for 6 days, stirring once or twice a day for six days.
2. The bag of grapes will eventually appear inflated, and liquid will begin to separate from the flour base. The mixture will begin to taste and smell slightly fruity, and the color will be strange. That is as it should be. By the sixth day the bag of grapes will have deflated, the color will be yellow, and the taste pleasantly sour; the fermentation is complete. The starter is living but weak, and it needs to be fed—which entails feeding it several times a day (see below).
3. Remove the grapes and squeeze their juices back into the starter. Stir it up thoroughly and transfer it to a clean container. (Although you can use it after just one feeding, the starter will be stronger and healthier with the full treatment) You can refrigerate it until you're ready to proceed.
4. Three days before you plan to use it, stir 1 cup flour and 1 cup water into the container, blending well. Let stand uncovered at room temperature until it bubbles up — 3 to 4 hours — then cover and refrigerate. Repeat this the second and third day.  Three times a day is best at the beginning.
5. Store the starter tightly covered in the refrigerator where it will keep perfectly for 4 to 6 months, after which it’s a good idea to pour off all but 2 cups and give it another feeding. Before using the stored starter for bread, however, give it the full 3-day feeding schedule once again to restore it and to tone down excess sourness.