Starter vs. Levain?
I assumed they were one in the same… can someone clear up the vernacular for me? I "know" starter is a mixture of flour, water and salt (traditionally) that is left to ferment, and I'm not going to imply it should be fed or left alone since there are as many recipes for starter as there are for anything else passed down through the generations. However, once starter has been established, I assumed you took the starter and either removed a portion to bake with and retarded the rest in the fridge feeding it once a week, or just used the whole thing in a bake considering you don't mind restarting your starter each time you make a loaf…
So if your starter happens to be on the "thick" side, do you water it down? I read in a forum that in fact you water down starter, and this liquid is "Levain". Is there a difference? I'm a bit turned around on the concept… What I DO know is that the levain in baguette is supposed to add a good deal of moisture. I know this from watching the KA youtube 6-part series on baguette, where in the first "episode" (only 5 minutes long or so) they add the levain and it is a sloshy, goopy substance that turns the flour mixture into a dough. Was that levain a thick starter that was watered down and left to get bubbly, or was their starter just really wet?