Here’s something I was wondering about: you read about people traveling with their starter in order to infuse it with the microbes of foreign lands (not sure how that could work in practice, but whatever). But it got me to thinking, what if, while in the process of ramping up one’s starter in advance of a new loaf, one were to lift the container lid and give a good exhale into it and then close the lid thereby “infecting” it with one’s own bacteria?
I was reading an article about starter which, in part, mentioned “Because sourdough starters depend on local strains of yeast and bacteria, no two sourdough starters are exactly alike. Your sourdough starter will carry the unique flavor of both your region’s flora and fauna, and your restaurant’s specific microculture, resulting in bread that is truly your own.”
I mean, I can’t imagine a starter that’s any more “your own.”