This is more of a sourdough bread with San Francisco intentions. If you make it in New York, it is SF bread with NY roots. Etc. It is just plain good and gets better with each new batch. Nothing beats a classic sourdough bread and you will perfect your own with each new loaf. Use spring water and unbleached bread flour for best results and relax – this is not a quick bread (it takes a few days of time – not very much of it is hands on but it does take some rise and fermentation time) but it is a leisurely stroll into a fine loaf. You can try the first time with ½ teaspoon rapid rise yeast to speed things along but this method is about as pure as you get. Check out the Basic Sourdough Starter for more on baking with sourdough bread, as well as Marcy's Legendary Chocolate Chunk Cookies. What you should know about this recipe is that you are first making a mini-dough that takes prepared sourdough starter. That dough is broken up into pieces and put in another starter (fresh flour and water). This is allow to ferment and then it goes into the final dough. Real sourdough bread is not for sissies or impatient people so beware! It is however, awesome. The real Gold Rush ended but the interest in the Californian inspired sourdough bread has never abated. Find out why.