Parisian Breads, Local Breads, A Year In Bread

Parisian Daily Bread: A Four Hour Baguette (recipe at A Year In Bread)

Many of you know how much I love the award-winning book Bread Alone by renowned baker Daniel Leader. I've written about it numerous times, and I've been recommending it for years to anyone who showed even the slightest interest in wanting to bake their own bread. I have a shelf full of bread books, and this is the only one that has earned a permanent place in my kitchen. My original copy is in at least four pieces, and I credit this book for nudging me into becoming a professional bread baker. But I'm afraid it's the end of an era. Believe it or not, another book has leaped over my beloved Bread Alone to steal first place and my heart—uh, stomach.

Back in January, I received an email from a marketing coordinator at W.W.Norton, an independent and employee-owned book publisher in New York, congratulating me for winning the Best Rural Food Blog at last year's Food Blog Awards. He then went on to say:

When I read that you're working towards creating an artisan bread bakery on your farm, I thought I'd let you know about a book we're publishing this summer. It's called Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers. It's written by Daniel Leader, the founder of Bread Alone, the legendary bakery in Woodstock, NY. The book won't be available in stores for a few more months, but I'd love to send you an advance copy. Interested?

Of all the bread bakers and all the bread books. . .

Fourteen years after he wrote Bread Alone, Daniel Leader has created another book—and it's wonderful. And unique. And inspiring. And informative. And entertaining. And beautiful. And of course absolutely delicious. And as you can clearly see, once again I'm hooked.

Local Breads is the culmination of Daniel Leader's dozens of trips to Europe over the past two decades in search of bakers who are still using time-honored methods and ingredients to create loaves unique to their towns and cities. Part travelogue, part bread making class, and part gastronomic history lesson, the book is full of colorful stories of local artisans and their authentic treasured recipes, many of which have been shared for the first time, and all of which have been translated by Daniel for American home bakers.

Advanced bread bakers are going to glom onto this book, but beginning bakers should not shy away from Local Breads. The first 60 pages are packed with detailed information on equipment, ingredients, and techniques, all of it clearly written and easy to understand. Even better are the several dozen Q&As throughout the book--Daniel's responses to the questions most frequently asked by his students at the Culinary Institute of America and other places where he teaches bread-making. Thirty-two mouthwatering, full-page photographs and 100 helpful line drawings round things out.

Local Breads will be available in stores on August 13th. You can pre-order copies now at Amazon.com for $23.10, which is 34% off the cover price of $35.00, plus there's no tax and free shipping on orders of $25 or more. Click here for more info.

But you don't have to wait until August to start baking authentic European breads. This month at A Year In Bread we've baked up three different summer/picnic breads, and I chose (at Daniel's suggestion) to make the beautiful Parisian baguettes you see in the photo above. (Wondering what A Year In Bread is? Click here to find out—and to read about some of my favorite bread baking equipment.) This is the first recipe in Local Breads, and it's definitely a keeper. From first step to first bite really is under four hours, and even beginning bakers should have delicious success with these loaves. Click here to read my Parisian bread article over at A Year In Bread. And don't miss Beth's famous Pesto Rolls and Kevin's Bacon Buns, both of which have been receiving rave reviews from A Year In Bread bakers.

We'll be devoting next month (which actually starts this Thursday--assuming I get my article written in time) at A Year In Bread to Local Breads. We'll each be baking a different Italian bread from the book, and during the fourth week I'll be posting my exclusive interview with Daniel Leader. We'll also be holding a contest and giving away two signed copies of Local Breads to lucky (and skilled!) A Year in Bread readers. More details will be posted soon.

It's going to be hard to choose which of the 80 recipes to make first, though I already have my eye on the Green Olive Sticks from Milan and a couple of authentic German rye breads. Tonight I'll be mixing up a biga for the Italian Black Olive Cheeks, made with those wonderfully strong and salty oil-cured olives, and then baking them up tomorrow, which just happens to be my birthday.

Friday afternoon, our new Federal Express guy, who jokingly said "So couldn't you find a place further out in the country?" once he finally found the farm, delivered a signed copy of Local Breads. Considering that more than ten cookbooks a day are published in the U.S. and Bread Alone (which I still highly recommend) remains in print after 14 years, I have a feeling this is one birthday present that is going to be around for a very, very long time.

© 2007 FarmgirlFare.com, the bread loving foodie farm blog where Farmgirl Susan shares photos & stories of her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres.