History, Fermentation Science, and Wild Yeast
Where sourdough comes from, and why it behaves the way it does
Sourdough has been around far longer than written recipes. Long before controlled yeast strains existed, bakers were relying on naturally occurring microorganisms in flour and the surrounding environment to leaven bread. That same biological system is still what you work with today when you feed a starter or mix a dough and leave it to ferment.
Understanding the history and science behind sourdough makes the process less mysterious. It also explains why timing, temperature, and flour choice matter so much more than they do in standard yeast baking.
What Is Sourdough?
If you've spent any time around baking websites or social media, you've probably seen beautiful loaves with blistered crusts, airy crumb, and dramatic scores opening like flower petals in the oven. Those loaves are often called artisan sourdough, but the term "sourdough" describes much more than a style of bread.
The Quebec Stopover
When we picture the arrival of Scandinavian immigrants in Canada, our minds almost instinctively leap to the sweeping grasslands of the prairies, the establishing of homesteads under the Dominion Lands Act of 1872, or the fishing boats navigating Lake Winnipeg. We envision families arriving by train directly into a vast, open territory waiting to be broken by the plow. Yet long before the West was fully opened or structurally organized for mass European settlement, an earlier, massive wave of Scandinavian travelers encountered Canada through a radically different landscape: the historic Port of Quebec.
Returning to the Root
For generations, the narrative of the Canadian Prairies has been celebrated through a single, foundational lens: the arrival of the hardy pioneer, the breaking of the ancient sod, and the building of tight-knit agricultural communities across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. As descendants of Scandinavian immigrants, many of our families found their footing in Western Canada through federal initiatives like the Dominion Lands Act of 1872, which partitioned nearly 80 million hectares of land into 160-acre homestead grids to draw mass European migration. This policy offered our ancestors a vital lifeline—a way to escape economic hardship, crop failures, and starvation in northern Europe, and to construct a prosperous future in a new world.
Utflykt: The Swedish Tradition of Outdoor Life
There is a Swedish word, utflykt, that is often translated as “outing” or “excursion,” though neither term fully describes how it is used. It refers to time spent outside the home where movement, rest, and eating occur as part of the same sequence. The term is common in everyday language and carries no formal or elevated meaning.
The Catalyst of Starvation
For eight centuries, the rugged wilderness of Western Canada remained completely closed to the people of Scandinavia. As explored in our previous look at the 800-year silence, global ice ages, geopolitical pivots, and corporate monopolies combined to keep the Canadian Prairies off the global market.
Then came the late 19th century, and the sky fell.
The 800-Year Silence — Why Canada Remained Off the Nordic Radar
When the last Norse longships turned eastward away from the shores of Vinland around 1010 CE, they did not just leave behind the turf halls of L’Anse aux Meadows. They initiated a profound, eight-century intermission in the Scandinavian story of North America.
For nearly 800 years, the geographic expanse that would become Canada vanished from the Nordic consciousness.
Meet the Men Who Found North America Before Columbus
History has a habit of turning real people into legends.
Few figures demonstrate that better than Erik the Red and his son, Leif Erikson. Together, pushed the boundaries of the known world farther west than any Europeans had ventured before. Their exploits eventually led to the first confirmed European landing in North America—nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus.
Yet separating fact from fiction is no simple task.
Standing in the grasslands with my once-in-a-lifetime grief
My work has slowed for the summer months. While that gives me plenty of time to work on the plethora of side projects that were left on the back burner, it also gives me too much time with my thoughts.
The L'Anse aux Meadows Mystery
Nearly five centuries before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic, another group of Europeans had already reached North America.
Around the year 1000 CE, Norse sailors from Greenland steered their longships west across the North Atlantic and landed on the northern tip of what is now Newfoundland. Led by Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red, they established a small settlement that modern archaeology identifies as L'Anse aux Meadows.
The History of Scandinavian Migration to the Canadian Prairies
Nearly five centuries before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic, another group of Europeans had already reached North America.
Around the year 1000 CE, Norse sailors from Greenland steered their longships west across the North Atlantic and landed on the northern tip of what is now Newfoundland. Led by Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red, they established a small settlement that modern archaeology identifies as L'Anse aux Meadows.
The Flax by Han Christian Andersen
The author reads The Flax by Hans Christian Andersen while making a first attempt at rosemaling.
Do I belong in church?
It’s Sunday and I’m thinking about church. If you’ve known me in my adult life, you may think this is strange. I’ve had an aversion to structured religion since my late teens/early twenties. It wasn’t always like that. I grew up going to the Gaetz United Memorial Church in Red Deer. I participated in the youth events, went to Sunday school, and for a period I felt religion very deeply.
Finding Norway in Red Deer
Last week I went to the annual Norwegian festival in Red Deer, Alberta with my two teenage daughters and my uncle.
Red Deer is where I grew up, yet I only discovered the Norwegian Laft Hus a few years ago. Tucked into the downtown core, it can easily disappear from view if you don’t already know to look for it. I remember frequently going to the pool next door when I was a child and never knowing what was tucked into the bushes behind it.
What is a prairie?
If you’ve ever read Little House on the Prairie, chances are your first image of a prairie is the one painted by Laura Ingalls Wilder who describes “the enormous, empty prairie,” stretching beneath an endless blue sky, where grasses ripple like waves and the horizon seems to go on forever. Her prairie stretches north from the American Midwest into southern Manitoba, where the same sweeping grasslands continue unassumingly across an international border.
Letting go of the past and creating something new
A few years ago I came up with the idea of Recipes and Roots to explore my love of food history. I’m someone who loves classic foods, the way things used to be done (from a sustainability angle) and how people live both now and in the past. I am mildly impressed with how many articles I put on the site. It’s seems almost impossible to count. Definitely over 500 and I think maybe around 1000. If I figure out how to calculate it, I’ll update here.
Haskaps on the Canadian prairies
Haskaps have long histories across northern regions, including the Canadian prairies. Knowledge of these early berries varies by place, Nation, and seasonal practice, shaped through observation, gathering, and use over time. Indigenous knowledge systems form the foundation of how haskaps have been understood, named, and used within broader food landscapes, a principle reflected in Indigenous-led research and knowledge-sharing initiatives such as the Canadian Indigenous Knowledge Network.
Ukrainian Food Heritage on the Prairies
Ukrainian settlement on the Canadian Prairies spans multiple regions, migration waves, and generations. Families arrived with food knowledge shaped by village traditions, seasonal rhythms, and agricultural practices carried across distance. Over time, these foodways adapted to prairie land, climate, and available resources. Community organizations such as the Ukrainian Canadian Congress document the breadth and continuity of this settlement across Canada.
Indigenous Trade Networks on the Prairies
The Canadian prairies encompasses many Indigenous Nations, each with distinct histories, territories, and systems of trade. For thousands of years, these Nations maintained exchange networks shaped by geography, season, and relationship. What follows is not a comprehensive account of those systems, nor does it attempt to speak for any single Nation or community.
Seasonal Eating in Edmonton Winter
Winter in Edmonton is long and decisive. Snow settles early and remains for months. Daylight shortens. Temperatures drop well below freezing, and the ground becomes inaccessible for much of the year. These conditions shape daily life in ways that are both practical and familiar.