Tartine Bread

For the home or professional bread-maker, this is the book of the season, with more than 50 recipes and over 200 step-by-step photographs, instructing how to make master baker Chad Robertson's legendary bread at home. It comes from a man many consider to be the best bread baker in the United States: Chad Robertson, co-owner of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, a city that knows its bread. To Chad, bread is the foundation of a meal, the centre of daily life, and each loaf tells the story of the baker who shaped it. He developed his unique bread over two decades of apprenticeship with the finest artisan bakers in France and the United States, as well as experimentation in his own ovens. Readers will be astonished at how elemental it is. A hundred photographs from years of testing, teaching, and recipe development provide step-by-step inspiration, while additional recipes provide inspiration for using up every delicious morsel. This is a bread baker's handbook. A master formula for basic bread with many variations forms the backbone of the book, which also includes yeasted breads and recipes for sweet and savoury foods made with days-old bread. Chad's mastery of breadmaking and work with great artisanal bakers in the US and France, as well as his philosophy of baking, are features of this book.

About the Author :
Chad Robertson is one of the founding chef/owners of the renowned Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. With his wife, Elisabeth Pruiett, he is co-author of Tartine. He trained at The Culinary Institute of American in Hyde Park, New York and was nominated for a James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef award in 2006.

Review :

"Tartine Bread is an addicting read, leaving the reader wanting to know more about sourdough. The recipe for a basic country loaf is easy to follow and great for beginners. Robertson himself says "The thought [...] is that anyone can pick up this book and make a good loaf of bread using this chapter alone." I can attest to this - Tartine was my inspiration to begin sourdough baking, and I continue to reference it." --Leavenly

"Chad Robertson's recipe for country bread, from Tartine, his bakery in San Francisco, has reached cult status among passionate bakers for good reason: As bread recipes go, it's nearly perfect." --New York Times

"It's absolutely lovely. It's informative, it's inspiring, it's visually stunning. Chad gives you step-by-step instructions, guiding you (in pedestrian terminology) through the process of making his Basic Country Bread and Eric Wolfinger (who used to bake bread at the bakery) walks you through each step with his almost tactile, moving photos. It is as I knew it would be: a very special book." --KQED

"Mr. Robertson spares no detail in describing each step of the process which, when you factor in his stories about developing the bread, the various experiences of the home kitchen testers and a few variations on the classic recipe, comes in at over 100 pages, many of them full of photographs. Remember, it took him almost two decades and several stints of apprenticeship to perfect this bread so a few pages of reading shouldn't be a problem. Besides, it's a really interesting story, appealing to the almost unavoidable sense of romance and dedication many people have towards such endeavors." --Apartment Therapy