Starters
 

>
> The words "poolish" & "biga" have often been used with
> reference to sour dough starters.
>
> I can't find them in my dictionaries (Chambers & Collins) nor
> in the online dictionary "dictionary.com".
>
> I was interested in their etymology. Can anyone help?


Sure. I've seen these terms used primarily to refer to sponges that use
commercial yeast, but, in any case --

Poolish: A French term for a wet yeasted pre-ferment that's usually and
equal weight of flour to water.

Biga: An Italian word for any kind of pre-ferment. It can be wet or dry,
though English speaking bakers usually use it to refer to a dough-like
preferment where the water weight is roughly 60% of the dough weight.

In each, a small amount of yeast is added, and then the sponges are allowed
to ferment for a long period of time, anywhere from 4 to 14 hours, depending
on temperature and the amount of yeast added.

--
Jeff

Starters
 

"Jeff Miller" > wrote in
news:mailman.25.1159370476.747.rec.food.sourdough@ mail.otherwhen.com:

>
>>
>> The words "poolish" & "biga" have often been used with
>> reference to sour dough starters.
>>
>> I can't find them in my dictionaries (Chambers & Collins) nor
>> in the online dictionary "dictionary.com".
>>
>> I was interested in their etymology. Can anyone help?
>
>
> Sure. I've seen these terms used primarily to refer to sponges that
> use commercial yeast, but, in any case --
>
> Poolish: A French term for a wet yeasted pre-ferment that's usually
> and equal weight of flour to water.
>
> Biga: An Italian word for any kind of pre-ferment. It can be wet or
> dry, though English speaking bakers usually use it to refer to a
> dough-like preferment where the water weight is roughly 60% of the
> dough weight.
>
> In each, a small amount of yeast is added, and then the sponges are
> allowed to ferment for a long period of time, anywhere from 4 to 14
> hours, depending on temperature and the amount of yeast added.
>
> --
> Jeff
>
>

Thanks Jeff, I could only find biga as meaning chariot!