Rising to the challenge: how TikTok made a 177-year-old sourdough starter go viral

There is an old pioneer tradition dating from the earliest days of the colonisation of the US west that you shared your bread starter with anyone who asked, according to bread enthusiast Mary Buckingham.

- Esther Addley

Which was all very well - until TikTok came along. For decades Buckingham, a retired meteorologist from Greeley, Colorado, and a tiny community of fellow bakers have embodied that generous tradition by posting a free sample of sourdough starter to anyone who sent a stamped addressed envelope.

The natural yeast and bacteria culture in this mix, tradition holds, has been lovingly fed and kept alive since 1847, when one pioneer family went west from Missouri to settle in the state of Oregon.

For decades, the 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter was prized by those in the know. But a viral TikTok video last month changed all that.

"It's just insane," said Buckingham. Where previously she would field between 30 and 60 requests a week for a sample, "we're up to 7,000 this year already. We're just running to catch up. There's only two of us doing it - although I have drafted my sister in to help with the envelopes." Normally, she spends two to three hours a week dealing with requests.