Every loaf we bake starts with a spoonful of Ember, a sourdough starter Maja began in a jam jar in 2016. It has moved house three times, survived a power cut in a heatwave and once travelled to a wedding in a cool box.
A starter isn't an ingredient. It's a colleague who never takes a day off.
We feed Ember twice a day with stone-milled rye and water at 26 degrees. In summer it bubbles up within four hours and smells of green apples; in winter it takes its time and turns sharp and vinegary, and so do we.
If you join a workshop, you'll take a little of it home. Feed it, name it if you like, and it will outlive your oven.