"There are some overlapping tales about the bread's starter. It is rumored to have been passed to Boudin by a gold prospector, a '49er, but also to have come with Isidore from France. It is certainly enriched with an airborne yeast that seems characteristic of this city - so much so that it has been saddled with the mouthful Latin handle of lactobacillus sanfranciscensis."
"Boudin had a ready-made market here, since, as of 1852, nearly one in six of the 36,000 San Franciscans came from France - many of them escaping turmoil and widespread unemployment in the mother country. Soon enough, the horse-drawn Boudin bread-wagon became a familiar sight on the hilly streets, its delivery-men pushing the distinctively scored, rounded loaves onto nails customers left protruding next to their doors."
Boudin Bakery began during the Gold Rush, founded by French immigrant Isidore Boudin, and built a reputation on distinctive sourdough bread. The starter has contested origins—rumored to have arrived with a '49er or with Isidore from France—and hosts a characteristic airborne yeast identified as lactobacillus sanfranciscensis. A significant French immigrant population in 1852 created an immediate market, and horse-drawn bread wagons delivered scored, rounded loaves to customers. In the 1860s, Boudin declined to adopt Fleischmann's commercial yeast, demonstrating a stubborn adherence to traditional methods that shaped the company's identity.
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