Finally, there's a better way to bake healthy, flavor-rich, dense, dark, all-natural, no-knead, whole grain sourdough bread, inspired by ancient traditions from Paris to San Francisco, and benefitting from the newest techniques to make things simpler and ensure success. Is this informative and easy-to-follow book for you? If you have ever wanted to bake sourdough bread, but didn't know how to get started-or didn't know how to create the key ingredient, sourdough starter-this book is what you have been waiting for. If you like bread but have been concerned about empty calories, too many carbohydrates, and other nutritional issues, this book will bring you back to a guilt-free, protein-rich, highly nutritional bread-inclusive lifestyle. Concerned about gluten? We've got you covered with gluten-free recipes and a clear explanation of what gluten is all about. If you long for the days, long ago, when bread was rich in flavor and taste, when bread had a firm, chewy crust, and a grainy, delicious texture, this book will bring back those days for you, every day. If you've heard about the rising wave of popularity of simple, natural sourdough breads in Europe and Scandinavia, and pioneering sourdough baking methods in San Francisco, this book will let you in on the latest approaches to modern, easy sourdough bread baking. If you think sourdough bread baking is for experts only, or too troublesome, or too time-consuming and not worth the bother, this book can have you baking your no-knead bread with minimal effort and time commitment, every weekend, if you wish, or whenever you want. If you would like clear, easy-to-follow instructions that will take you from opening the first bag of flour until you're slicing into a magnificent, crusty, healthy and flavorful loaf of sourdough bread, fresh from the oven, this book is written especially for you. If you think that sourdough bread making requires extensive kneading, and then baking in a wood-fired brick oven, this book will show you the way to no-knead preparation and baking in cast iron to simulate the steam of a French bakery oven. Here, the best of ancient practices and breadmaking techniques combine with new methods that save time and effort while preserving the nutrition, flavors and textures of traditionally made breads. All recipes are vegetarian and vegan acceptable. We begin with the historical origins of bread, when all bread was whole grain sourdough bread, then learn how industrial practices stripped bread