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jenbsbooks 's review for:
Tartine Bread (Artisan Bread Cookbook, Best Bread Recipes, Sourdough Book)
by Chad Robertson, Eric Wolfinger
I got into making sourdough a few years ago. I loved the fiction Sourdough by Robin Sloan ... it was great! I enjoyed Breadsong: How Baking Changed Our Lives by Kitty Tait. I think this was the baker that the previous author wanted to learn from ... I have heard the names; Chad Robertson/Tartine. This was included in KindleUnlimited (also available at the library) - not in audio, as a good portion is recipes, and there were also a lot of pictures included. I needed to read this on my phone/fire or computer, to get the photos in color (although half were in B&W).
The first portion of the book was the most interesting to me ... telling about how the author got started, his history and travels, how they tested and tried new things and got others involved. Told their stories. I captured some highlights "learning a craft is as much about copying as it is about understanding..." and "baker's signature, the score made with a blade on top" and "listen for a faint crackling sound - the song of the bread" and "a baker's true skill lies in the way he or she manages fermentation. This is the soul of breadmaking."
... not only about baking "having little free times means prioritizing the things he wants to do most" ... too true!
The book shifted more in to a recipe book ... which is what many people prefer I'm sure. Not me though. I've got my system down, so I just enjoy learning about other's experiences and love of baking sourdough. I'm basic and boring, and just stick with plain sourdough... some of the recipes here were SO out there, at least to bland little me. Two of them used stinging nettles. Now I know nettles CAN be eaten (similar to spinach) but that doesn't mean I'm going to attempt to work with them! I don't even know where you get them! Certainly not my local grocery store.
Some interesting info about when commercial yeast was introduced ... "Bakers were aerating the dough instead of fermenting it, sacrificing flavor and altering the very nature of French bread - the soul of the bread had gone from it." and "historians note that bread consumption in France sharply declined after the 1940s. As bakers adopted yeast, they stopped teaching their apprentices how to bake with natural leaven."
One recipe had 1 TBLS of mature starter, 220 g flour, 220 g water ... WHY the tablespoon, instead of a gram measurement? I've totally shifted to the scale, and besides accuracy, it's so much easier to just tare the scale, drop a dollop of starter in, weighing it, not messing with measuring cups or spoons. I just didn't get why there was this ONE measurement (and that is a HUGE ratio! I do 1:1:1 most of the time).
The section on the "dry bread" or older bread was interesting (toast, croutons, breadcrumbs and more ... I do the first three already). The "old" bread was listed as "day old" ... which isn't really old. I expect my loaves to last several days at least (I bake three times a week, but not every day, but we eat bread every day).
So ... I liked the book. There was some good information, but nothing ground breaking for me. I skimmed over most of the recipes.
The first portion of the book was the most interesting to me ... telling about how the author got started, his history and travels, how they tested and tried new things and got others involved. Told their stories. I captured some highlights "learning a craft is as much about copying as it is about understanding..." and "baker's signature, the score made with a blade on top" and "listen for a faint crackling sound - the song of the bread" and "a baker's true skill lies in the way he or she manages fermentation. This is the soul of breadmaking."
... not only about baking "having little free times means prioritizing the things he wants to do most" ... too true!
The book shifted more in to a recipe book ... which is what many people prefer I'm sure. Not me though. I've got my system down, so I just enjoy learning about other's experiences and love of baking sourdough. I'm basic and boring, and just stick with plain sourdough... some of the recipes here were SO out there, at least to bland little me. Two of them used stinging nettles. Now I know nettles CAN be eaten (similar to spinach) but that doesn't mean I'm going to attempt to work with them! I don't even know where you get them! Certainly not my local grocery store.
Some interesting info about when commercial yeast was introduced ... "Bakers were aerating the dough instead of fermenting it, sacrificing flavor and altering the very nature of French bread - the soul of the bread had gone from it." and "historians note that bread consumption in France sharply declined after the 1940s. As bakers adopted yeast, they stopped teaching their apprentices how to bake with natural leaven."
One recipe had 1 TBLS of mature starter, 220 g flour, 220 g water ... WHY the tablespoon, instead of a gram measurement? I've totally shifted to the scale, and besides accuracy, it's so much easier to just tare the scale, drop a dollop of starter in, weighing it, not messing with measuring cups or spoons. I just didn't get why there was this ONE measurement (and that is a HUGE ratio! I do 1:1:1 most of the time).
The section on the "dry bread" or older bread was interesting (toast, croutons, breadcrumbs and more ... I do the first three already). The "old" bread was listed as "day old" ... which isn't really old. I expect my loaves to last several days at least (I bake three times a week, but not every day, but we eat bread every day).
So ... I liked the book. There was some good information, but nothing ground breaking for me. I skimmed over most of the recipes.