I spole to a native born Morrocan who makes bread by pouring the "batter"
(apparently the dough is very liquid so that it pours - when I said "like a
batter for pancakes" he agreed strongly) onto a ceramic tile which is heated
below by a hotplate (or some kind of heat source). Does this sound familiar
to anyone, or did he invent an easy way to make flatbread??

I asked him to make a video and email it to me but he wouldn't comply with
my request. Now I am wondering if he is serious or this bread technique is
just a story.

Chanced upon these from the sourdough news group. Fun to watch
these 6 videos...

http://www.youtube.com/user/mynameisviince

John Andrews, Knoxville, Tennessee

The dough:
http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=loaf16thedoughxi3.jpg

The crust:
http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=loaf16thecrustnt7.jpg

The crumb:
http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=loaf16thecrumbld3.jpg

The flavor? ... as the subject says - the same. I mixed all of the
ingredients from the start (flour, water, sugar, salt) and then fed it once
after it was warmed up from the refrigerator. After that I added dusting
flour during kneading (the "Bertinet" method only works for very wet doughs)
and did so for 2 rises over 4 hours. All toll this took 27 hours. My guess
is that someone with a lower sweet tooth than mine would call this "tasty" -
but it isn't quite the Rustic Sourdough Italian Bread I am shooting for. ...
oh well, another weekend is just around the corner. :)

I was given a 2lb block of fresh yeast about a month ago, perhaps
even 5 weeks ago.

I went into the usual baking frenzy, but was left with a ton of it, of
course. Often I have frozen it and revived it with some success, but
not enough so that I was happy with it.

I think I have found the answer, though...I vac-packed it. I have a
food sealer with is pretty strong, but instead, used the Reynolds
HandiVac available at most grocery stores these days.

I have up unpacked and repacked the block 3 times now and the yeast is
as crumbly and wonderful as when I first packed it. I don't know how
long this trick will work, but I am a happy camper.

Boron