In Good Bread Is Back, historian and leading French bread expert Steven Laurence Kaplan takes readers into aromatic Parisian bakeries as he explains how good bread began to reappear in France in the 1990s, following almost a century of decline in quality. Kaplan describes how, while bread comprised the bulk of the French diet during the eighteenth century, by the twentieth, per capita consumption had dropped off precipitously. This was largely due to social and economic modernization and the availability of a wider choice of foods. But part of the problem was that the bread did not taste good. In a culture in which bread is sacrosanct, bad bread was more than a gastronomical disappointment; it was a threat to France's sense of itself. By the mid-1990s bakers rallied, and bread officially designated as "bread of the French tradition" was in demand throughout Paris. Kaplan meticulously describes good bread's ideal crust and crumb (interior), mouth feel, aroma, and taste. He discusses the breadmaking process in extraordinary detail, from the ingredients to the kneading, shaping, and baking, and even the sound bread should make when it comes out of the oven. Kaplan does more than tell the story of the revival of good bread in France. He makes the reader see, smell, taste, feel, and even hear why it is so very wonderful that good bread is back.

In Good Bread Is Back, historian and leading French bread expert Steven Laurence Kaplan takes readers into aromatic Parisian bakeries as he explains how good bread began to reappear in France in the 1990s, following almost a century of decline in quality. Kaplan describes how, while bread comprised the bulk of the French diet during the eighteenth century, by the twentieth, per capita consumption had dropped off precipitously. This was largely due to social and economic modernization and the availability of a wider choice of foods. But part of the problem was that the bread did not taste good. In a culture in which bread is sacrosanct, bad bread was more than a gastronomical disappointment; it was a threat to France's sense of itself. By the mid-1990s bakers rallied, and bread officially designated as "bread of the French tradition" was in demand throughout Paris. Kaplan meticulously describes good bread's ideal crust and crumb (interior), mouth feel, aroma, and taste. He discusses the breadmaking process in extraordinary detail, from the ingredients to the kneading, shaping, and baking, and even the sound bread should make when it comes out of the oven. Kaplan does more than tell the story of the revival of good bread in France. He makes the reader see, smell, taste, feel, and even hear why it is so very wonderful that good bread is back.

A revolutionary approach to making easy, delicious whole-grain bread and more This is the best bread you've ever had--best tasting, nourishing, and easy to make right in your own kitchen. Mark Bittman and co-author Kerri Conan have spent years perfecting their delicious, naturally leavened, whole-grain bread. Their discovery? The simplest, least fussy, most flexible way to make bread really is the best. Beginning with a wholesome, flavorful no-knead loaf (that also happens to set you up with a sourdough starter for next time), this book features a bounty of simple, adaptable recipes for every taste, any grain--including baguettes, hearty seeded loaves, sandwich bread, soft pretzels, cinnamon rolls, focaccia, pizza, waffles, and much more. At the foundation, Mark and Kerri offer a method that works with your schedule, a starter that's virtually indestructible, and all the essential information and personal insights you need to make great bread.

2020 James Beard Award Winner The major new cookbook by the pioneer from Bread Alone, who revolutionized American artisan bread baking, with 60 recipes inspired by bakers around the world. At twenty-two, Daniel Leader stumbled across the intoxicating perfume of bread baking in the back room of a Parisian boulangerie, and he has loved and devoted himself to making quality bread ever since. He went on to create Bread Alone, the now-iconic bakery that has become one of the most beloved artisan bread companies in the country. Today, professional bakers and bread enthusiasts from all over the world flock to Bread Alone's headquarters in the Catskills to learn Dan's signature techniques and baking philosophy. But though Leader is a towering figure in bread baking, he still considers himself a student of the craft, and his curiosity is boundless. In this groundbreaking book, he offers a comprehensive picture of bread baking today for the enthusiastic home baker. With inspiration from a community of millers, farmers, bakers, and scientists, Living Bread provides a fascinating look into the way artisan bread baking has evolved and continues to change--from wheat farming practices and advances in milling, to sourdough starters and the mechanics of mixing dough. Influenced by art and science in equal measure, Leader presents exciting twists on classics such as Curry Tomato Ciabatta, Vegan Brioche, and Chocolate Sourdough Babka, as well as traditional recipes. Sprinkled with anecdotes and evocative photos from Leader's own travels and encounters with artisans who have influenced him, Living Bread is a love letter, and a cutting-edge guide, to the practice of making "good bread."

"An invaluable guide for beginning bakers."—The New York Times An irresistible account of bread, bread baking, and one home baker’s journey to master his craft In 2009, journalist Samuel Fromartz was offered the assignment of a lifetime: to travel to France to work in a boulangerie. So began his quest to hone not just his homemade baguette—which later beat out professional bakeries to win the “Best Baguette of D.C.”—but his knowledge of bread, from seed to table. For the next four years, Fromartz traveled across the United States and Europe, perfecting his sourdough in California, his whole grain rye in Berlin, and his country wheat in the South of France. Along the way, he met historians, millers, farmers, wheat geneticists, sourdough biochemists, and everyone in between, learning about the history of breadmaking, the science of fermentation, and more. The result is an informative yet personal account of bread and breadbaking, complete with detailed recipes, tips, and beautiful photographs. Entertaining and inspiring, this book will be a touchstone for a new generation of bakers and a must-read for anyone who wants to take a deeper look at this deceptively ordinary, exceptionally delicious staple: handmade bread.

“You can almost taste the food in Bill Buford’s Dirt, an engrossing, beautifully written memoir about his life as a cook in France.” —The Wall Street Journal What does it take to master French cooking? This is the question that drives Bill Buford to abandon his perfectly happy life in New York City and pack up and (with a wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow) move to Lyon, the so-called gastronomic capital of France. But what was meant to be six months in a new and very foreign city turns into a wild five-year digression from normal life, as Buford apprentices at Lyon’s best boulangerie, studies at a legendary culinary school, and cooks at a storied Michelin-starred restaurant, where he discovers the exacting (and incomprehensibly punishing) rigueur of the professional kitchen. With his signature humor, sense of adventure, and masterful ability to bring an exotic and unknown world to life, Buford has written the definitive insider story of a city and its great culinary culture.

Award-winning journalist Simran Sethi explores the history and cultural importance of our most beloved tastes, paying homage to the ingredients that give us daily pleasure, while providing a thoughtful wake-up call to the homogenization that is threatening the diversity of our food supply. Food is one of the greatest pleasures of human life. Our response to sweet, salty, bitter, or sour is deeply personal, combining our individual biological characteristics, personal preferences, and emotional connections. Bread, Wine, Chocolate illuminates not only what it means to recognize the importance of the foods we love, but also what it means to lose them. Award-winning journalist Simran Sethi reveals how the foods we enjoy are endangered by genetic erosion—a slow and steady loss of diversity in what we grow and eat. In America today, food often looks and tastes the same, whether at a San Francisco farmers market or at a Midwestern potluck. Shockingly, 95% of the world’s calories now come from only thirty species. Though supermarkets seem to be stocked with endless options, the differences between products are superficial, primarily in flavor and brand. Sethi draws on interviews with scientists, farmers, chefs, vintners, beer brewers, coffee roasters and others with firsthand knowledge of our food to reveal the multiple and interconnected reasons for this loss, and its consequences for our health, traditions, and culture. She travels to Ethiopian coffee forests, British yeast culture labs, and Ecuadoran cocoa plantations collecting fascinating stories that will inspire readers to eat more consciously and purposefully, better understand familiar and new foods, and learn what it takes to save the tastes that connect us with the world around us.

At long last, Sarah Britton, called the “queen bee of the health blogs” by Bon Appétit, reveals 100 gorgeous, all-new plant-based recipes in her debut cookbook, inspired by her wildly popular blog. Every month, half a million readers—vegetarians, vegans, paleo followers, and gluten-free gourmets alike—flock to Sarah’s adaptable and accessible recipes that make powerfully healthy ingredients simply irresistible. My New Roots is the ultimate guide to revitalizing one’s health and palate, one delicious recipe at a time: no fad diets or gimmicks here. Whether readers are newcomers to natural foods or are already devotees, they will discover how easy it is to eat healthfully and happily when whole foods and plants are at the center of every plate.

"Good bread is hard to find and easy to make," says Dan Leader as he draws you into the ancient world of traditional bread baking. Unlike any other bread book, Bread Alone will provide you with a comprehensive guide to creating—at home—the country-style breads that have consistently captured the imagination and the taste buds of the world. In a richly told tale, Leader chronicles his crossings of America and Europe to locate the most vital ingredients at the source, to learn from the methods of the world's great bakers, and to perfect their traditional techniques. His recipes are ones that have been used for centuries: large sourdough ryes, rich and dark raisin pumpernickel loaves, real French pain au levain, big round wheats with walnuts, crusty baguettes, high and airy breads, and more. Made from organic, stone-ground grains, these breads are slow-leavened, hand-shaped, and baked to perfection on heated baking tiles. As you read through the recipes, you can almost smell the ancient aroma of baking bread. And as you begin to bake, you will learn the importance of the primary ingredient in great bread: your own observations. These are some of the breads and techniques you will master: In the chapter "Becoming Bread," you will learn to identify and shop for the highest quality flour available. And you will seek it out because you'll taste the difference. Making a poolish will become second nature to you as you master the Learning Recipe: Classic Country-Style Hearth Loaf and its delicious variations. Whatever your schedule, there is a bread for you. In the chapter "Straight-Dough Breads: Traditional Breads for a Modern Life-Style," you are shown how to start and finish a recipe in five hours, or morning-to-night, or night-to-night. You will bake sourdough bread in its many forms. By gently introducing the concept of sourdough—how it is made, how it is maintained, and how to get the best flavor from it—Leader demystifies it and makes it accessible to you. Discover the wonders of rye bread: From the dense and chewy Finnish Sour Rye to the fragrant Danish Light Rye, everyone's tastes are served. The mystery of pain au levain, French for "bread from a sourdough or wild yeast," unfolds into an understandable, user-friendly process. From My Personal Favorite Pain au Levain, a typical large Parisian loaf, to Pain au Levain with Pecans and Dried Cherries, the "Family of Traditional Pain au Levain" includes some of the best loaves baked around the world. A perfect baguette is a beautiful thing. From shaping to scoring, you will learn how to make the authentic French baguette at home. The purpose of an organic certifier—find out how and why one farmer becomes dedicated to his role as land steward. Brioche, Chocolate-Apricot Kugelhopf, Panettone, and Semolina Sesame Rolls are a few recipes you will find in "A Family of Breads Inspired by Traditional French and Italian Breads." Finally, when a quick bread is all you have time to bake, you will find recipes for such delights as Vanilla Bean Butter Loaf; Dried Pear, Port, and Poppy Seed Loaf; and Provolone Sage Corn Loaf. Bread Alone is the bread book that cooks and bakers have been waiting for. From the wheat fields of the Midwest to the hot and steamy boulangeries of Paris, you will travel the long and delicious road to flawless bread baking. You will emerge a better baker and with a deeper understanding of what it takes to make perfect loaves. Bakers entertain you with stories of their love of baking (even in the most adverse situations). Bread Alone is the bible of bread books and a must-have for bread lovers everywhere.

Sourdough is a traditional style of bread that is both healthy and delicious, making it a favourite with artisan bakers. The unique tastes and texture of sourdough takes patience, forethought and love to create, and its rise in popularity is indicative of a greater shift towards a more mindful, considered way of living. Sourdough brings you all you need to know about baking the bread at home and includes 15 extensive and clear step-by-step recipes using a variety of grains. From making your own starter yeast to how to use different flours, Norwegian bakers Casper and Martin's approach is basic and rustic, just like sourdough itself.