Friday Book Stack 12/13/24
Recent releases, part two
Hello from the Wordloaf Friday Bread Basket Book Stack, a weekly roundup of links and items relating to bread, baking, and grain. Today’s stack is round two of my 2024 recommendations of new bread and baking books to consider for your holiday gift-giving consideration. Today’s list includes a pile of new books from bread bakers, along with the release of an American edition of a book I shared earlier this year.
My Bread, 15th Anniversary Edition, by Jim Lahey
No-knead bread popularizer (though not its inventor) Jim Lahey has come out with a new version of his book My Bread, fifteen years after the original book came out. It contains five new recipes, along with a new introduction by Martha Stewart. I do not use no-knead formulas myself (though I have a few very popular ones), but it is unlikely I’d be where I am today if not for the NYT no-knead loaf I made back in 2009, which made me realize that bread baked at home was far superior to almost any loaf you can get from elsewhere (especially back then).
Sift, by Nicola Lamb
I’ve already talked up the greatness that is
’s book Sift, but I wanted to be sure that you all knew that the US edition of the book came out last month, so you don’t need to import it illegally any more. If there was one book this year I’d recommend as a general manual of baking (bread included), it would be this one.ICYMI last time around:
Pan y Dulce, by Bryan Ford
Bryan Ford has just published a follow-up to his 2020 bestseller, New World Sourdough, entitled Pan y Dulce. Where the first book was more general (and entirely sourdough-fermented), this one is a guide to the breads, baked goods, and sweets of Latin America, many of them unknown outside of their homelands.
A Slow Rise, By Daniel Leader
My friend Dan Leader, founder of Bread Alone Bakery, has just published his fourth book, A Slow Rise, a personal “greatest hits” bread book. It contains many of his favorite recipes, new and old, updated with modern techniques and ingredients. All of Dan’s books are personal favorites of my own, and this one is a great introduction to his baking approach and skill. (As with Living Bread, the gorgeous images were photographed by Joerg Lehmann.)
Very Good Bread, by Melissa Weller
Melissa Weller—former head baker at Bouchon, Per Se, and Roberta’s—has followed up her excellent 2020 book A Good Bake, which covered her approach to pastries, cakes, cookies, and pies (and many breads), with this year’s Very Good Bread, which is focused entirely on her breads, especially those not included in AGB: bagels and bialys, flatbreads, crusty sourdoughs, ryes and other whole-grain sourdoughs, enriched breads, and rolls. Fans of AGB and anyone interested in a professional baker’s approach to home baking will want this book.
Richard Hart Bread, by Richard Hart and Laurie Woolever
Richard Hart, former head baker of Tartine and founder of Hart Bageri, in Copenhagen, has a new book on his approach to baking—co-authored by the great Laurie Woolever—called Richard Hart Bread. Hart’s techniques and formulas are in the same vein as Chad Robertson’s, though he adds his own twists to both, and the book will be of interest to anyone who is a fan of Tartine-style breads, or sourdough baking in general. He is English, trained to bake in Northern California, and lives in Denmark, and influences from everywhere he’s lived and worked are reflected in the formulas. I haven’t baked from it yet, but there’s lots to mine here.
(Someday I need to write something about how I hate the way that Tartine-related bakers—Hart included—express bread formulas, since they don’t properly calculate baker’s percentages, making more work for anyone who really wants to understand the proportions of ingredients and hydrations involved.)
The King Arthur Baking Company Big Book of Bread, by Jessica Battilana, Martin Philip, and Melanie Wanders
Finally, there’s King Arthur Baking Company’s Big Book of Bread, written by Jessica Battilana, my pal
, and Melanie Wanders, which is—astonishingly—King Arthur’s first book devoted entirely to bread. It was worth the wait, since it is a gorgeous book filled with delectable recipes of all kinds, organized elegantly by bread type—flatbreads, pan breads, hearth breads, buns and things, and fancy (enriched, mainly) breads. There’s also a chapter on things to make with bread. And since Martin and Melanie developed the recipes, you know they are going to be as reliable as they are delicious. Definitely a book I’d recommend for a new or aspiring bread baker, though any lover of bread will find lots to love here.
That’s it for this week’s bread basket book stack. Have a peaceful, restful weekend. See you next week.
—Andrew
Why don't you add a little bit here, Andrew. It seems that you are reviewing a book you haven't read (or at least baked from) but could have a problem with because you hate the way proportions are expressed. It appears to be the only book on the list you don't say anything positive about. So, exactly what does this mean: Today’s stack is round two of my 2024 recommendations of new bread and baking books to consider for your holiday gift-giving consideration. Why are you encouraging money to spend money on this book?