The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking [Hardcover]

French Culinary Institute (Author), Matthew Septimus (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2011

The French Culinary Institute’s international bread-baking course, created in 1997, is taught by some of today’s greatest artisanal bread bakers and regarded as one of the top programs in the world. The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking follows the outline of the FCI’s complete 12-week bread-making course. Serving not only as a reference in the classroom, but also as a guide for professionals, amateur chefs, and home cooks who desire total immersion in the art of bread baking, this book instructs readers on French, Italian, German, Middle European, and gluten-free breads. Encyclopedic in scope and format, it is sure to become an essential item in every home cook’s library.

Praise for Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking:

“There are other bread books, some very good ones. But The French Culinary Institute’s The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking is in a class of its own. The instructions are clear, the photography is wonderful, and recipes for virtually every classic bread are included. The book’s greatest virtue is its sensible organization, which makes it perfect for the self-teacher.” 
—Mark H. Furstenberg, Owner of Bread Furst

 

“To make a perfect loaf of bread, the baker needs just five essential ingredients: flour, water, salt, yeast—and this indispensable book!”

—Iacopo Falai, Owner of Falai, Caffe Falai, and Falai Panetteria

 

“The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking is an essential reference book for every bread baker, from novice to seasoned professional. The rich array of information shared by the French Culinary Institute is based on knowledge that is deeply rooted in experience and tradition. The beautiful photos of well-made bread, with dark crusts and irregular holes, will raise the standards of ‘good bread’ for bakers everywhere.”

—Amy Scherber, Owner of Amy’s Bread

 

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

For more than 25 years, the renowned French Culinary Institute at the International Culinary Center in New York City has been teaching the fundamentals of Western cuisine through its hands-on Total Immersion curriculum. With a world-class facility, a distinguished faculty, and a celebrated restaurant, the FCI is among the leading schools of its kind.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang (November 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158479934X
• ISBN-13: 978-1584799344
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 1.4 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Bread

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic teaching reference February 15, 2012

By John W. Graham VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I consider myself an avid home baker. I like to bake breads, cakes and other desserts. Recently, I developed a desire to venture beyond the comforts of Brioche, Challah and basic white bread. I wanted to learn exactly what the title suggests: the fundamental techniques of classic bread baking. I also wanted to explore the breads of France, Italy and beyond in greater detail.

Buying this book and using it to teach yourself the FCI way of baking bread means that you will probably need to update some of your kitchen equipment. For me, I ended up buying a better digital scale, a couche, a dough rising bucket, a baker's peel, a better baking stone, some higher quality IDY yeast, and a several types of flour beyond "bleached all purpose" and "bread" flour. I still want to eventually get a pain de mie (pullman) pan, a La Cloche and other specialty baking items.

Armed with new ingredients and baking implements, I read the first several chapters on prep and theory. While I won't be using the Baker's Percentage any time soon in my home baking, this book did its best to introduce the concept (although I like Rose Levy Beranbaum's "dough percentage" concept better). After digesting all of the theory and technique discussions, I was eager to start baking bread. For full disclosure, I have a standard electric oven which goes up to 500F. I also have a 5 quart stand mixer. Aside from that and the basic equipment outlined in this book, I don't have any special commercial grade equipment.

My first gripe with the book is the usage of fresh yeast which is pretty much inaccessible to the average home baker. However, armed with a calculator and loads of conflicting advice, I read my yeast manufacturer's label and made my own "fresh to IDY" conversion multiplier which ended up being fairly close to the recommended conversion factor in this book. My other complaint stems from me being mostly used to volumetric measuring. How many eggs does it take to get 165 grams? Does the measure include the egg shell or is the book referring to the cracked egg? Those types of questions are not answered in this book, and you will have to use trial and error to find your own way. As an Engineer, I do love the precise measurements though.

Right off the bat, I decided to make Ciabatta. I previously attempted to make my own Ciabatta using the Bread Bible book as well as one of the King Arthur recipes. Both of those were "average" - but the Ciabatta I made using the FCI recipe was memorable. The directions are fairly specific and I was able to achieve some large irregular holes in the crumb on the first try. (This requires careful handling) My only complaint with this recipe is the guidance to make 4 loaves - I think two larger loaves might be better! But that's what bread baking is all about - learning the fundamental techniques and improvising.

The next bread I tried was the Brioche - except instead of making it in a brioche pan (or smaller disposable cups), I made it in 9x5 bread pans as demonstrated in the book. The FCI recipe is a bit confusing in that all of the pictures show 2 loaves but the recipe specifies three. I made three loaves, but this would have made fuller and taller loaves with just two pans as the pictures demonstrated. Again, I chalk this up to learning. I think my 325 watt stand mixer almost overloaded on this recipe - it is fairly stiff prior to adding the pounded butter. The result was again memorable. I think my neighbors are starting to appreciate my dabbling in bread making!

Next - I tried the baguette demonstration (the one with the levain). Again, my baguette pan holds three but this recipe makes 4. I made the recipe as specified. My baguettes came out just fine - but an overall theme I am finding is that it is nearly impossible to get the kind of crust I want using an electric oven. Even with the baking stone, I don't feel that the electric oven gets hot enough or maintains a consistent heat level. Using the ice cube steam method, I am also forced to put the steam pan on a rack versus the oven floor. All of these factors conspire against me to make a ho-hum crust. Even so, my neighbors were not complaining about me showing up with freshly baked baguettes.

Now that I have some semolina and durum flour, I am interested in trying some of the semolina based demonstrations. My wife wants me to make the fougasse aux olives next, but she is also reconsidering my newly acquired love of bread baking due to the enormous amount of time I am spending in the kitchen (plus the money spent on supplies)!

In summary, I am happy with this book. The photographs are generous and useful in most cases. I still turn to my other books for bits of missing guidance from time to time (example: I find some of the shaping instructions difficult to follow), but this does seem to be a fairly complete reference and teaching aid. My only gripe with this book is that it is rather impersonal. There are no words of encouragement and no warnings that might pertain to the average home baker. Just instruction. (Example: something like "the dough will be very wet at this point" would help the novice baker.)

My goal is to bake every bread in this book at least once, and I feel that doing so will definitely make me a better baker. I again warn the casual bread baker that buying this book will put you into more of an "in for a penny in for a pound" type situation...you will definitely start buying all sorts of ingredients, pans and baking instruments once you get this book. I really look forward to finishing the course outlined in this book!

2/21/12 update: I made Pane Siciliano Semolina this weekend - aside from a slightly cracked crust and the color not being as deep and vivid as the FCI photo - it came out really nice. The taste was fabulous. I'll definitely be making that bread again!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Practical Collection April 9, 2012

By Eugen

Format:Hardcover

After having taken a number of baking courses at Le Cordon Bleu it was wonderful to find this book which provided much of the same information gained from Le Cordon Bleu's bread baking courses but in a beautiful book. The book is actually the book used by the FCI and when reading it you see that it is indeed more textbook than typical cookbook, but that's just what I was looking for. I have many bread and pastry books but wanted something the provided an excellent collection of the practical aspects of bread making. I was relying on my notes from Le Cordon Bleu but my handwriting has only regressed courtesy of using a keyboard most days. So being able to verify a specific comment I left to myself by reviewing the practical aspects of a given type of bread has been most welcome.

I'd recommend this for anyone who's taken a course in the past and wants a more pleasant way to remember what they've been taught or as a great addition to the bread maker wanting to have the knowledge of FCI at their fingertips. The fact the course from FCI aligns so well with the ones I've taken at Le Cordon Bleu is a most welcome bonus.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great cookbook May 29, 2012

By Guillaume Slama

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

In our restaurant, we knead and bake our bread ourselves. This book has helped us understand many technical aspects of the process, and has helped us create a better product. It is well illustrated and very well explained. A serious book for serious bakers.