San Francisco, CA
San Francisco's sourdough is 'culinary symbol' and part of 49ers culture
Until the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which helped bring home baking to new areas of the country, sourdough bread was largely synonymous with one American city: San Francisco.
Even the San Francisco 49ers mascot – a staple at home games since the mid-1990s – is named Sourdough Sam. His favorite food, according to the team’s website, is “clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.”
But what connects sourdough and San Francisco? Fox News Digital reached out to the CEO of one of the city’s most storied bakeries to find out more about this culinary classic.
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“Sourdough bread is a type of bread made by fermenting dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeast,” Dan Giraudo, CEO of Boudin Bakery, told Fox News Digital.
Boudin Bakery was founded in 1849 and celebrated its 175th anniversary this year.
Sourdough Sam (left), the mascot of the San Francisco 49ers, said his favorite food is clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl (right), according to the team’s website. (Douglas Stringer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images; Boudin Bakery)
It is San Francisco’s oldest continuously operating company and is home of “the original San Francisco sourdough,” Giraudo said via email.
The fermentation process behind sourdough, Giraudo said, gives the bread “a distinctive tangy flavor and chewy texture.”
“He created a unique sourdough bread using the natural wild yeast found in San Francisco’s climate.”
Boudin Bakery has been making sourdough bread in San Francisco since 1849, Giraudo said, when a French baker named Isidore Boudin arrived in the city.
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“He created a unique sourdough bread using the natural wild yeast found in San Francisco’s cool fog climate, which gave the bread a signature flavor,” Giraudo said.
That specific wild yeast, known by its scientific name, “lactobacillus sanfranciscensis,” is what makes San Francisco’s sourdough bread so unique.
Boudin Bakery has been making sourdough bread in San Francisco since 1849, using the wild yeast found in the city. (Boudin Bakery)
“This wild yeast, combined with traditional techniques, led to a distinct variety of sourdough that became a culinary symbol of the city,” Giraudo said.
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Boudin Bakery has been using the same “mother dough” sourdough starter since 1849, Giraudo told Fox News Digital.
A woman is all smiles as she eats clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl in San Francisco. (iStock)
“This starter is carefully maintained and has been fed daily to preserve its natural flavors and wild yeast culture,” he said.
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“This continuity and attention to tradition set Boudin’s sourdough apart from others, giving it a taste and texture that are hard to replicate.”
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Today, Boudin Bakery has locations throughout California, including at San Francisco International Airport and a replica bakery at Disney California Adventure.
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Its flagship location, at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, offers tours.
Boudin Bakery & Cafe’s flagship location is at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. (Boudin Bakery)
Boudin Bakery, Giraudo said, “is more than just a bakery. It’s a piece of San Francisco’s history.”
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“Our journey from a small bakery to a renowned institution is a testament to our enduring legacy and commitment to quality,” he said.
San Francisco, CA
Sea lion pup found in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset malnourished but ‘feisty’
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
San Francisco, CA
Giants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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San Francisco, CA
Why do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?
The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
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