October 14, 2017 - 11:51pm
Library getting bigger
what books do you have on bread?
onky 6 months baking. Already 9 books on sourdough(mainly). Any I'm missing?
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what books do you have on bread?
onky 6 months baking. Already 9 books on sourdough(mainly). Any I'm missing?
This is the book that turned me around. Low on formulas - high on how's, why's and technique.
Jim
Well. Ill have to get that one now.
You have enough there for a lifetime of baking! But books are fun in their own way. Here are some favorites that are not as good technically as the ones you have, but add variety:
Carol Field, _The Italian Baker_: Italian regional and festive breads. The 2011 edition has gram weights.
Alford and Duguid: _Flatbreads and Flavors_: global flatbreads plus accompaniments
Daniel Leader, _Local Breads_: Justly criticized for screwing up some recipes, but full of lore and quirky regional breads.
Bernard Clayton Jr.: _Breads of France_ and _Complete Book of Breads_: old school (volume measures) but an incredible amount of research.
A few more
The Bread Bible – Rose Levy Beranbaum. A lot of information.
The Fundamental Techniques Of Classic Bread Baking – The French Culinary Institute. A bit technical but very interesting.
Bourke Street Bakery – P Allam & D McGuinness. Plenty on sourdough.
Ballymaloe Bread Book – T Allen. Easy to follow, but cut down on the salt.
And one more, just to make the author richer; Modernist Bread – N Myhrvold. Why not?
Downloaded the bread bible. By mistake, I usually buy books on bread not kindle!
but glad I did - great book, but quite full on, so I can dip in and out on my I phone when I get a spare moment.
also just arrived is elizabeth david - English bread and yeast cookery. Just made a cup of tea to settle down and enjoy !!
Well now, that's going to keep me quiet for a while! all of these will go in my wish list and will be e mailed to my family for Christmas ! I vole my kindle for reading novels etc, but 99 % of my cook books are hard copy - they are just not the same unless you can lovingly hold them in your hands.
Here's the most-used bit of my bread library.
I do have a few others, most notably the "5 Minutes a Day" books. The little book by Eve Parker was a find at a local thrift shop when we were in the UK (Huntingdon) last autumn. It actually has some interesting recipes in it! And the pink binder is 'my' recipes, with my scalable formulas for the breads I make regularly for sale. Some of those are recipes from other sources which I have scaled to my needs; others are recipes I've created myself.
Oh, and the Christmas angel candle is indeed wearing a small bowler hat, which came on the top of a tiny bottle of British gin one year. :)
Love the pink folder. I've a little book, but your idea is better. I bet most of us have 80% same books !
English Bread And Yeast Cookery - Elizabeth David. Probably out of print, I found this in a 2nd hand bookstore.
On Food And Cooking - Harold McGee. Because every home should have one.
I look in all second hand shops for bread cooking books. Not lucky yet but I keep looking! Not bought a book for two weeks, must be a record.
There is a possible small problem with collecting books - you rapidly run out of shelf space. I need another 12 metres or so of shelving to get books off various surfaces around the house and double stacked existing shelves.
Admittedly, not all of our books are on food but, the food books (of which we seem to have a lot) are the ones that get used most often.
This is the 1994 edition - might not be the one you have, but still available
English Bread and Yeast Cookery