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1
Swish some boiling water around in a jar with a hermetically sealing lid to sterilize it, then let cool.
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2
Quickly rinse the young rosemary sprigs to wash off any dirt.
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3
Put the rosemary in the jar, then add the sugar and water.
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4
Seal the lid, then lightly shake the jar by turning it upside down and right side up again.
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5
Store in a location where you can maintain a temperature of around 25C.
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6
Once or twice a day, lightly shake the jar by turning it upside down; let the contents settle, then open the lid to refresh the air.
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7
If you use freshly harvested herbs, in about 3 days, it should start to fizz.
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8
Shake, wait for the contents to settle, then open the lid.
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9
If there's a popping sound when you open the lid and you see the liquid fizzing up vigorously, the starter is done.
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10
You should aim for it to be ready in 5 days, but mine was done within 48 hours using freshly harvested young sprigs and stored in a perfect fermenting environment.
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11
When the starter liquid is ready, remove the rosemary and be sure to store the starter in the refrigerator.
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12
Take 3 more days to make a starter sponge for bread baking.
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13
It has a wonderful aroma, and it's most suited to making focaccia, pizza, fougasse, or any other bread that's chewy, without being too heavy.
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14
Characteristics of rosemary starter: It not only gives off a nice aroma when you are kneading the dough, but each mouthful of the bread fills your senses with a rosemary essence.
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15
It has a chewy, rather dense texture.
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16
Expect it to take a bit longer than other starters for the dough to rise.
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17
No matter what kind of rich blend of ingredients you use for the dough, rosemary starter is not suited for making fluffy, soft bread.
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18
When I made rolls, they cracked and were quite dense and chewy, not fluffy.
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19
The type of bread you can bake with it might be limited, but the aroma is superb.
