Sourdough Baguettes

The Traditionalist in me was Rather Skeptical about the very idea of sourdough baguettes. After all, for centuries all breads were made with sourdough of one sort or another, and it was only after the long gradual evolution that made baguettes possible—the availability of whiter flours, reliable yeast, steam-injected ovens, and urban populations—that at last the ephemeral baguette found its place. Finally, a bread with crisp crust (and lots of it), tender crumb, and above all, a complete la