In Search of the Perfect Loaf

This is best book about bread I’ve read. By now we know (based on some of the complaints), that this is not a recipe book, it’s a book about bread with some recipes…

Maybe you have to be crazy about bread to really enjoy Fromartz’ writing. He certainly is. I probably have more pictures of breads fresh out of the oven on my phone than pictures of my family, so I qualify as well.

So, it it’s not about recipes, what is this book about? It’s about the process of becoming an expert in something. Yes, it’s about baking the “perfect loaf”, but at the end, it’s a process that can be applied to many other areas as well. You don’t just pick a recipe from a book of recipes, and bake it once and expect to hold that perfect load in your hands. That’s not how things work. You do the same thing over and over and over again, until it becomes second nature, and then you try to make small adjustments, learn more about the ingredients and the process, talk to and learn from other experts, and refine your technique. What we witness in this book is Fromartz’ journey from somebody who has baked a lot of bread to somebody with a much better understanding of every single aspect of the topic ‘bread’.

Coming around to the recipes in the book: They are mile posts for this journey, and not the primary reason why you should buy this book. Enjoy the stories, learn some new tidbits about grain, flour and bread, and then bake a bread or two from the book ten or twenty times to walk a bit next to Fromartz on that journey. Even though the recipes are not the most important content of the book, they are excellent. I was able to probably make the best bread I’ve ever made based on his baguette recipe.

If you enjoy bread, read the book.

What I liked is that there are a few recipes. What I did not like is that this paperback is a long, boring journal.
I also did not like the fact that I could not find a source for some of the flours. One place had flours listed but there was an exorbitant cost ,and shipping on top of that, making the cost of a loaf well over $20. for ingredients alone.
Not a practical book and definitely not for the average home baker.
The idea was to show home bakers how to bake the perfect loaf not go broke trying.
Huge disappointment and I did not learn anything. I learned more reading blogs at King Arthur flour

The subtitle of this book really summarizes the intensity with which the author, Samuel Formartz, has pursued his quest for that perfect homemade loaf of bread: “A home baker’s odyssey.” He travelled widely, worked in bakeries and boulangeries, and with each new experience, he comes home and works to replicate that bread at home. (You and I benefit from the recipes, which allow us to dive right in and make great bread without too many variables to worry about.) What a lovely adventure this must have been, and for any eager baker, I recommend it as a great tale, filled with insight and information from a guy who went the distance and came back with the goods. It’s completely motivating to me, in the same way that Ken Forkish’s “Flour Water Salt Yeast” is.

This is an excellent read for any home or professional baker. This is great combination of a travel/cookbook even though the author prefaces the book by saying it’s not a recipe book. The introduction explains how he started his quest for food and travel and then goes on to explain the process of turning wheat into that perfect tasting loaf of bread. This isn’t a “recipe every page” kind of book. In fact there’s only a handful of recipes in it. But the ones he choose to include are amazing…. Once you practice perfecting them! That’s what this book is about. The title is right on spec, “In Search of the Perfect Loaf” isn’t going to make you a master breadmaker overnight. Fromartz is giving you the history, nuances, and a few little secrets and it’s up to the reader/baker to go and search for YOUR way to make that perfect loaf.

Each chapter is about a different experience followed by a recipe or two. The Stirato I think is the best stretch bread recipe I’ve found aside from a little restaurant in my home town! This is a great read and it really will set you out to start experimenting on your own at home. Buy it! Read it! Start baking bread! You won’t regret it!

It’s so much more than a bread cookbook. It’s an education about bread, the people who make it, the grains it’s made from, and a a chosen few superb recipes. The levain baguette is regularly made at our house with several different starters because I like to experiment. The flavor is amazing every time, even various starters. The levain baguette is so much better than my great-grandmother’s white bread recipe that my mom made almost weekly when I was a child and that initiated my love of good bread.

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