- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate; illustrated edition edition (4 Sep 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007203748
- ISBN-13: 978-0007203741
- Product Dimensions: 22.2 x 19.4 x 4.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
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- #67 in Books > Food & Drink > Baking > Bread
Bread Matters
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More About the Author
Product Description
Bee Wilson
'What an important book; passionate and polemical and full of
truth...original and inspiring.'
truth...original and inspiring.'
Product Description
Andrew Whitley, organic baker and founder of The Village Bakery, reveals the deplorable state into which modern supermarket bread has fallen, and the secrets behind making good, nutritious bread at home.
All is not well in British baking. Commercial bread is laced with additives to make it look good and stay soft. It uses varieties of wheat that have been bred for high yield and baking performance with little concern for human nutrition. To rush it through the bakery at the lowest possible cost, it's dosed with four times as much yeast as before. Described as 'fresh' when it may have been frozen and re-heated, it's sold as a loss-leader at knock-down prices which undermine what little respect it may once have commanded.
Even before the Atkins diet frightened people off, there was evidence of a massive growth of intolerance – to gluten, wheat and yeast in particular. Call it coincidence. Dismiss it as hypochondria if you will. But things have come to a pretty pass when people avoid their staple food – the staff of life – in droves.
‘Bread Matters’ offers a solution. Revealing the madness behind this modern adulteration of our most basic food as only an insider can, organic baker Andrew Whitley, founder of The Village Bakery in Melmerby, shows why and how to make real bread at home. Unlike many bread book authors, he has baked for a living for over 25 years. His recipes are fool-proof because he explains what’s really going on, demystifying the science, sharing a practical baker’s craft. Using the skills he deploys on his popular courses, he guides and inspires beginners and seasoned bakers alike. And he brings good news to those who have had to abandon bread because of dietary sensitivity, showing how to bake tasty and nutritious food without yeast, wheat or gluten.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a terrific book. I have been baking my own bread for years but this book not only has excellent, easy-to-follow recipes but also gives the home bread baker an understanding of the ingredients and processes that go into making good (and bad!) bread. I had always been concerned when a dough was too wet - now I know not to be. Many other books on home bread making, though excellent, prove (sorry!) to be inadequate when you want to try something new - this book encourages learning how and why things happen, and them changing them to suit. It helps the reader learn about different types of flour, yeasts, sourdough, temperature, water, how gluten is changed etc. This is a must-buy book for home breadmakers.
61 of 63 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you bake bread, then you will be in sympathy with what Andrew Whitley has to say. The author rants extensively about the state of the industry, and the depredations to our palate caused by the Chorleywood process with no signs of abatement. He informs this with an eye to the biochemistry of baking that is missing from most 'hard-core' bread books.
About three quarters of the book is devoted to the process of baking; we are taken through simple yeast risen recipes, and led directly into creating a no nonsense rye sourdough starter. The recipes here are centred around Russian style ryes, with additional recipes for different grains: wheat and rye of course, but also spelt and gram. Later chapters include the modern trend for flavoured doughs (tomato and onion, mushroom and garlic, etc), and cover the range from ciabatta and calzone to stollen and lardy cake, with an extensive chapter on gluten-free baking.
It should be clear to the experienced from the above description that Andrew Whitley favours working with very wet doughs, using natural leavens and a wide variety of grains. For a novice some of the descriptions could be more detailed, and the number of permutations for using leavens tends towards the confusing. On balance, I think that a novice breadmaker would be able to learn to make bread from the progressive instructions given in the three chapters devoted to this.
I baked my way through the central section of the book; I had to substitute dried yeast for his fresh yeast in the initial recipes with some stumbling on my part - the instructions for conversion are located in a different section of the book. My rye starter worked exactly as he predicted, and is currently producing a series of fantastic wholemeal rye loaves and French country style wheat and rye (which he calls Cromarty Cob). The doughs all come out somewhat wetter and more fluid than the author describes, but bake successfully (which is what really matters). He also suggests baking at 220-240 C for an initial period, which my last two domestic ovens refuse to reach (they all lie about their temperature, too, which is a very common problem).
Bread Matters is joining my bookshelf alongside Ed Espe Brown, Elizabeth David, Laurel's Kitchen and Nancy Silverton. I can't say any better than that.
About three quarters of the book is devoted to the process of baking; we are taken through simple yeast risen recipes, and led directly into creating a no nonsense rye sourdough starter. The recipes here are centred around Russian style ryes, with additional recipes for different grains: wheat and rye of course, but also spelt and gram. Later chapters include the modern trend for flavoured doughs (tomato and onion, mushroom and garlic, etc), and cover the range from ciabatta and calzone to stollen and lardy cake, with an extensive chapter on gluten-free baking.
It should be clear to the experienced from the above description that Andrew Whitley favours working with very wet doughs, using natural leavens and a wide variety of grains. For a novice some of the descriptions could be more detailed, and the number of permutations for using leavens tends towards the confusing. On balance, I think that a novice breadmaker would be able to learn to make bread from the progressive instructions given in the three chapters devoted to this.
I baked my way through the central section of the book; I had to substitute dried yeast for his fresh yeast in the initial recipes with some stumbling on my part - the instructions for conversion are located in a different section of the book. My rye starter worked exactly as he predicted, and is currently producing a series of fantastic wholemeal rye loaves and French country style wheat and rye (which he calls Cromarty Cob). The doughs all come out somewhat wetter and more fluid than the author describes, but bake successfully (which is what really matters). He also suggests baking at 220-240 C for an initial period, which my last two domestic ovens refuse to reach (they all lie about their temperature, too, which is a very common problem).
Bread Matters is joining my bookshelf alongside Ed Espe Brown, Elizabeth David, Laurel's Kitchen and Nancy Silverton. I can't say any better than that.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book for £10 at a chain bookstore. It is an interesting read & like a lot of the 'real food ' zealots , his heart is in the right place. I agree with the comments of an earlier poster - it isn't always easy or affordable for us to always eat as we wld like, yet for reasons why we should try to - read these book.
I found it a book that you need to study & the authors views give an overall view of where he sees bread in the World. The more I have progressd into making bread , the more I find myself referring back to this book. The explanations regarding the how & why of bread really do help one to understand what is ( & sadly , at times , isn't ) occuring.
If you just want a book that shows you how to make good bread , consider 100 Great Breads by Hollywood. If you are 'into' the total experience of making bread - consider this. I am happy I own it.
I now have 6 books on bread making & this is the one that I increasingly treat as the definitive text.
I am really glad I bought this & now that I understand more , I wld rate it 5 stars. This book & the one's by Hollywood & Bertinet ( Dough - but don't get the American version ) are all money well spent.
I found it a book that you need to study & the authors views give an overall view of where he sees bread in the World. The more I have progressd into making bread , the more I find myself referring back to this book. The explanations regarding the how & why of bread really do help one to understand what is ( & sadly , at times , isn't ) occuring.
If you just want a book that shows you how to make good bread , consider 100 Great Breads by Hollywood. If you are 'into' the total experience of making bread - consider this. I am happy I own it.
I now have 6 books on bread making & this is the one that I increasingly treat as the definitive text.
I am really glad I bought this & now that I understand more , I wld rate it 5 stars. This book & the one's by Hollywood & Bertinet ( Dough - but don't get the American version ) are all money well spent.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thanks, Mr Whitley
For reminding us that what we eat really does matter. For producing such a valuable, in fact, definitive work on bread making. And for teaching me sourdough bread making. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Christophe Mouze
Fantastic book
This really is the definitive guide to bread making - having never explored sour-dough I can now bake wheat, rye and rice sour-dough breads which are better than I can buy. Read more
Published 8 months ago by jaz
Cardiff breadmaker
Couldn't agree more with all the positive reviews. I heard Andrew Whitley, probably on the Radio 4 Food programme talking about his approach to bread and I knew straight away that... Read more
Published 21 months ago by BX
Informative & Inspirational
Want to know about bread? Thinking about baking again, or starting? Buy it. Packed full of more information about commercial bread than you will probably want to discover followed... Read more
Published on 9 July 2009 by Daniel L. Young
Can we go forwards by going backwards?
This book is little more than a collection of assumptions gathered together by a well meaning, pro-organic guy that has little to no scientific basis for his opinion. Read more
Published on 1 May 2009 by J. Milburn
If bread matters to you, read this book, otherwise do not bother
This is a book for people who has a true interest for breadmaking and learning about how unhealthy the normal shopbought bread can be. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2009 by Mr. Lars Ola Larsson
Passionate about good clichés
I don't doubt the sincerity of the author and his passion (dread word) for 'good' bread (never ever bad bread) but I could have done without page after page of rants about the... Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2008 by Poddy
Buy this book to understand more about WHY bread matters
When I purchased this book, intending to add to my library of bread recipes, I hoped there would be at least some that I liked. Did I find them? Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2008 by Sojourner
Breadmaking as a metaphor for revolution
As a complete novice to breadmaking, I was stunned by this tour de force. I had not realised that we are eating such rubbish in the average sliced pan. Read more
Published on 6 April 2008 by Dr. John F. Cockburn
Bread really does matter.
I agree totally with all the other positive comments regarding this excellent book. If you are serious about food and baking your own bread (it covers the whole breadth of yeast... Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2008 by Mildred Mittens
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