A Chef Offered Up Her Sourdough Starter On Instagram And The Results Are Amazing

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These days, thanks to social media, nothing travels faster than news -- except maybe sourdough starter. Just ask 31-year-old chef and tour lệ giang Washington, DC, resident Johanna Hellrigl. In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, when lockdowns were just beginning, Hellrigl offered to share a sourdough starter with her 6,000-plus Instagram followers. At last count, the former executive chef at Doi Moi has distributed more than 500 iterations of her starter. And tour shangrila in doing so, she's created a sprawling network of baked goods, and goodwill, in rather dark times.

Read more: How to make your own sourdough starter

The bread starter in question was made from an apple Hellrigl brought back from a trip to Italy, where most of her family lives (you can make a starter from almost anything that ferments). As payment for each new starter she's bequeathed to a fan or follower, Hellrigl has asked recipients only for a commitment to help restaurant workers in whatever way they can.





















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Good Morning ☀️ 📸: @mojalvo

A post shared by Johanna Hellrigl (@chefjohannahellrigl) on May 18, 2019 at 4:42am PDT





Hellrigl told The Washington Post, which first reported the story, about the hundreds of starters she's distributed around DC, and the not-so-small family of comfort foods that've resulted, including pizzas, pancakes, doughnuts and of course, lots of bread. Hellrigl has received a steady flow of pictures of baked goods spawned from her starter, along with thank-you notes, social shoutouts and records of how folks have helped or donated to restaurant workers in an effort to soften the blow of COVID-19.

Read the full story at The Washington Post  


"I wanted to use my platform to be a helpful citizen," Hellrigl told the Post, "but I admit that I've been surprised by the response."

In addition to the starters Hellrigl has already doled out, there's a waiting list of more than 100 people hoping to get their hands on one. Hellrigl has been leaving the starters on her front porch to be picked up, as a way to avoid unnecessary contact with those taking them.





















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🔸🔸Today marks my giving away 500 starters and that means celebrating with a special recipe: Sourdough Pissaladière🔸🔸 As an Italian my love for anchovies and olives are real- but fun fact about me: my mom moved me to the South of France to be close to my grandparents when I was 12 (Italy was a 15 minute drive!?) and the cuisine there is a wonderful mix of the Italian and French Riviera. Those memories are some of my most vivid. I decided to make a sourdough version of this traditional dish that can convert anyone to fall in love with anchovies and olives (the sweet caramelized onions play a big role in that!) and I am very happy to share my recipe with you to make at home (swipe right)! #showusyourstarter #visibleactsofkindness

A post shared by Johanna Hellrigl (@chefjohannahellrigl) on Apr 21, 2020 at 1:40pm PDT





Obi Okolo, one of the first few people to take Hellrigl up on her offer, told the Post that the starter provides reassurance.

"Everything feels entirely out of control right now, and no one knows what's coming, what's happening or what has happened," Okolo said. "But there's this thing, this simple little combination of flour and water, that does its thing all by itself, ready to help provide sustenance. It's almost this reminder on our kitchen counters that the world is still turning."

Read more: Coronavirus -- some good news amid the dire reports

Sourdough starter is famously tricky to get right. It takes time and patience to develop properly, which may explain the fervent interest. There's also been a shortage of yeast in many grocery stores, but as Hellrigl has proved, you don't necessarily need it.

If you can't get your hands on any of Hellrigl's sourdough starter, check out Chowhound's guide to making sourdough starter yourself. If you make a good one, kynghidongduong.vn it's easily shareable, so don't forget to pay it forward to an interested friend or neighbor. 





















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Happy Easter 🐣 Here is the recipe for my sourdough banana pancakes to start your morning right. So many of you have asked for the recipe and I kept sending you a picture from my highlights of my smiling husband with his birthday pancakes and the recipe on it. Felt like it was getting weird to send 😂😂😂 Ingredients: 1 cup Sourdough Starter (Discard, Fed from previous day) (8oz) 2 cups of All Purpose Flour (Up to 1/4 cup more if your mashed bananas were quite liquid when mashed) 1 1/2 cups Whole Milk 1 Whole Egg, Whisked 2 Tsp Sunflower Oil (Sub Neutral Oil) 1 Tbsp Baking Powder 1 Tsp Baking Soda 1 1/2 Cups Mashed Extra Ripe Bananas (about 3 small bananas) 1 Tsp Salt (Half this if not using maple syrup or sensitive to salt in desserts) 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice / cinnamon (optional, but you probably have pumpkin spice leftover in your spices from the fall!) Clarified Butter/ Ghee for Cooking, Butter for Topping, Maple Syrup for Topping Mix all ingredients together loosely. Do not over or under mix. Let it sit for 20 minutes. Heat up non stick pan with clarified butter and use large ice cream scooper to help you scoop your pancakes into the pan. Cook until bubbled on one side, flip and watch them rise! Cook for another minute or so and remove. Should make 10 large ass pancakes! Make smaller if you want more pancakes.

A post shared by Johanna Hellrigl (@chefjohannahellrigl) on Apr 12, 2020 at 6:26am PDT





For some inspiration on what to make, check out Hellrigl's Instagram account, which is brimming with ideas. She suggests trying these simple sourdough banana pancakes for a first attempt at working with starter. "I'll always be available to give something to somebody," Hellrigl, who grew up around cooking and restaurants, told the Post. "But someday I hope we're all busy enough that we're not baking bread all the time."





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