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Rating: 
Summary: The scent of homemade bread!
Review: If you have never made a loaf of homemade bread you have missed out on one of the most therapeutic experiences in the kitchen. The sensory delight you will experience as the bread cooks is nothing short of magical. Understandably, many of us do not have time to wait for bread to rise or feel insecure about the process of kneading. Put your fears aside, you can do this. Start on a Saturday afternoon and learn all you can. As an avid reader of history and culture, I enjoyed the history and Introduction chapters almost as much as the page after page of homemade goodness. For once the pictures actually look like what you will achieve in a home kitchen. There is an entire section on breads from various locations. Whether you just enjoy imagining you will make a loaf of bread, or want to purchase a gift for a friend....This is the book on bread you will both love.
Rating: 
Summary: Wide World of Bread
Review: This book is written from a British perspective. Some of the worst bread in the world is to be found in Britain, and some of the best in France. Upon reading this book, however, you might get the opposite impression. The attitude of the authors to non-British breads is rather pedestrian. The suggestion to hollow out savory brioche and stuff it with mushrooms or grilled peppers is not one of "the most delicious ways of using" it, but a rather horrid suggestion (the book is full of such marginal serving suggestions). It also criticizes Pain Poilane because it can be "disappointing", as if British bread were any better. The first 3 dozen pages have a history and primer on bread making. The section on forming breads is too short to be of any help; you will need to consult a more detailed explanation in another bread book. The next hundred pages is an atlas with 2 dozen or so countries and the breads therein. In spite of the fact that each bread description has a chatty entry, the descriptions of the individual breads do not always describe what the ingredients are or what it tastes like. Not all encyclopedia entries have a picture, although many of them do (all of the recipes do). The last section has roughly 100 bread recipes of varying quality. Many are very interesting, using such things like all purpose flour or employing a second dough kneading after the initial proof. On the whole, I liked the recipe section but thought that the encyclopedia section was kind of a waste of time. The only real problem is the small size of the text (you'll need reading glasses for this one) to go along with the small 7 x 9 size of the page. The authors are British; on the good side, it means that all of the flour measurements in the recipes are listed by weight (halleluiah!), but it also means that some of the terminology is confusing to Americans. The ingredients are those of a British grocery store, so you will have to make substitutions for American ingredients (equivalents are not supplied). The procedures are mostly very detailed and easy to follow, although steps describing the proper dough textures or doneness while baking breads are not detailed enough (for example, if you follow their instructions for baking croissants, you will under bake them) Some of the procedures are difficult to understand or execute, and often lacking in sufficient detail. Also, the hydration levels of some of the doughs were apparently not correct, and the recipe instructions do not always describe the proper dough texture. The proofing times were often too short. The procedures listed for some of the sourdough breads may or may not work as specified. It is an interesting, useful, and wide-ranging collection of European bread recipes not often found here in the US (there are a dozen or so American bread recipes). They have interesting flavors, but not all of them are good. It is a good collection of bread recipes to have, and many are worth trying at least once. In spite of the incompleteness and unreliability, it is a useful and enlightening guide.
Rating: 
Summary: Good overview of breads in the world, not a good recipe book
Review: This book starts with the usual 'bread book' introduction--explaining different grains, various methods of making bread,equipment etc. Then half of the book is devoted on introducing breads in different regions of the world. The rest is bread recipes from each part of the world. The pictures are nice and gives us an idea of what bread is in Germany, in France, in Japan, in the middle east. However, when I tried a couple of the recipes, they all turned out below average--and I am experienced in bread-making. I would suggest people who want to 'bake' to look somewhere else, such as 'the village baker'
Rating:
Summary: Good overview of breads in the world, not a good recipe book
Review: This book starts with the usual 'bread book' introduction--explaining different grains, various methods of making bread,equipment etc. Then half of the book is devoted on introducing breads in different regions of the world. The rest is bread recipes from each part of the world. The pictures are nice and gives us an idea of what bread is in Germany, in France, in Japan, in the middle east. However, when I tried a couple of the recipes, they all turned out below average--and I am experienced in bread-making. I would suggest people who want to 'bake' to look somewhere else, such as 'the village baker'
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