Are you new to detox meals and mindful eating? Not sure what’s good for your body and what’s not? Planning your meals can be a bit tricky when you are trying to eat healthy all day long. While numerous food choices are sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan, and organic, more often than not, it’s hard to find all the right ingredients to prepare meals that are healthy and fulfilling at the same time. In this blog, we introduce one such food that will help plan your breakfasts and midday snacks a lot easier.
One of the failsafe foods to start your day with is sourdough sandwiches, one of the signature dishes at our healthy cafe in Dubai. These sandwiches are made of sourdough bread, filled with delicious and nutritious ingredients of your choice. But why sourdough? What’s so special about this bread? Let’s find out.
Sourdough bread- The favorite from the past
Although sourdough has become popular recently, it is not exactly a novelty food. One of the oldest sourdough bread dates from 3700 BCE and was excavated in Switzerland. Sourdough was the usual form of leavening down in bread making throughout the European Middle Ages until it was replaced by barm left out from the beer brewing process. This was later replaced by purpose-cultured yeast in 1871, which became the most common method for bread making. So what exactly is sourdough bread?
Simply put, sourdough is one of the oldest forms of grain fermentation that is believed to have originated in ancient Egypt around 1500 BC. Here, the leavening ( the method of leaving the dough to rise during the bread-making process due to the release of gas during grain fermentation) is done using “wild yeast” and lactic acid bacteria naturally present in the bread flour. A “starter” made of wild yeast, lactic acid bacteria, flour, and water is the base for making the sourdough. This starter ferments the sugars in the dough, which causes the bread to rise and acquire its unique taste.
Why is sourdough bread better than others?
Studies show that sourdough bread is healthier than conventional bread as it is easier to digest. Its distinct taste also adds to its recent rise in popularity, making it a tasty alternative to normal bread-based dishes.
Sourdough bread is also more nutritional than regular bread. As it is a whole grain bread, sourdough bread is rich in minerals, including potassium, phosphate, magnesium, and zinc. Further, the use of lactic acid bacteria for fermentation ensures that the dough has low levels of Phytates or antinutrients that bind to the minerals, reducing your body’s ability to absorb them. The lactic acid bacteria also release antioxidants during the fermentation process, making the bread an ideal choice for your detox diet.
As mentioned earlier, sourdough bread is easier to digest due to its high amount of prebiotic content. Regularly consuming this bread is found to improve gut health, easing digestion. The sourdough fermentation reduces the gluten content in the bread, making it a possible option for gluten-sensitive people. Researchers have also found that the lactic acid bacteria found in the sourdough produce organic acids that can delay stomach emptying and prevent a spike in blood sugar levels.
Where to find sourdough bread?
Even though there is sourdough bread available in the supermarkets nowadays, it is rarely made using the traditional sourdough method. If you are interested in using sourdough bread for your breakfast sandwich, we recommend buying the bread from an artisan baker or a farmer’s market. You can also try it at home if you have the time and the means to bake it.
You can also try the sourdough sandwiches from our healthy cafe in Jumeirah. The 100 cafe has two delicious vegan cheese sandwiches made from sourdough and a variety of fillings. Our sourdough sandwich is filled with homemade vegan cheese of cashew nuts, nutritional yeast, and probiotics. Our vegan sandwich stuffing combinations include alfalfa sprouts and rich tomatoes or zaatar, Palestinian olives, and mint leaves. These scrumptious sandwiches are sure to tingle your taste buds and leave you craving for more. We welcome you to The Hundred, where you can order these star dishes from our healthy cafe today!
