The Taste of Bread (Hardcover)

~ (Author), James J. MacGuire (Author), Ronald L. Wirtz (Translator) "It is really no exaggeration at all to say that producing good taste in bread is a very complex problem..." (more)
Key Phrases: prefermented dough, natural levain, poolish method, Procedures Mixing, Professor Calvel, North American (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For all of us English speakers who are passionate bakers of French bread, it is wonderful indeed that at last we have the English translation of this seminal book by its most famous contemporary master, Professor Raymond Calvel. James J. MacGuire and Ronald L. Wirtz have labored long and lovingly to present the Professor’s generous spirit as well as his words, and have also included special information on North American ingredients, especially flours, where they differ from the French. This is essential reading–a real treasure–for anyone interested in this very special craft." - Julia Child, Author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Product Description

Translation of the French text, Le Gout Du Pain, c1990. A thorough guide to the basic ingredients in bread, the composition of bread dough, the various factors that influence the taste of bread, and precise directions for how to make good-quality bread, including recipes and detailed discussions for continued use. DLC: Bread.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 205 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1st edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0834216469
• ISBN-13: 978-0834216464
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #257,430 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate bakers' manual, January 9, 2003

By	Woods (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This book is by the man who revolutionized bread baking and it is excellent. The technical information on flours, oxidation, etc is very good. All recipes are based on the bakers percentage formula so it is very easy to scale anything. It is more for professionals but I have had no trouble adapating it to home use. This book will teach you to be a bread baker, not a follower of recipes. I highly recommend this for anyone who is serious about bread baking. If you are a casual baker of loaves it may be too much. If you can read basic French I encourge you to get the french edition as it costs about 25E's instead of the crazy price for the English translation.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book - bad mistakes, June 15, 2006

By	Welle (Niederbayern, Deutschland) - See all my reviews

The book is a translation of an excellent book written by a widely accepted master of his art.
The original is in French - le gut du pain - and ist is much better!
Even if there are some additions to adjust the recipes to the american (stronger) flour and even if there are some very useful explanations in the first theoretical chapters that are not part of the original still the translation is by far not as excellent as the book.
The pictures are poor (b/w) compared to the coloured ones in the french book, the layout is sometimes chaotic especially when it comes to the formulas.
The worst problem of the translation alas are the formulas - being the core of the book:
Some examples:
* Exhibit 10-3: A basic french bread. The water is given after (!) a dough rest of 15 minutes, but what dough is there without it?
The given number of the total time is wrong. The translation adds 80 minutes from a simple advice to punch down the dough after 80 minutes - these 80 minutes being part of 150 minutes of the 1st Fermentation. The original has it right - why did they change the number?
* Exhibit 14-10: In the formula the sugar is 17.64 oz which makes 25% compared to 70.55 oz for flour. The same amount of butter is interpreted as 15% - another mistake which makes it hard to figure the true meaning of what is written.
These mistakes are just examples to show the problem.
It is often hard to correct these mistakes without knowing the original. I still bought the translation to understand the first chapters - I don't speak French. When it comes to baking I use the french edition which is much safer leading to success. By the way the french book is available at amazon.fr for a lot less money.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Foundation of all Bread Books , December 11, 2004

By	Tad S. Mitchell (Aurora, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is my favorite bread book bar none. However, it's for the serious baker. The recipes are industrial, so you need to break out a calculator and have a scale to measure ingredients. You also need a serious mixer that can simulate an industrial mixer. Kitchen Aid would work, but I use a Bosch.

By using this book, the quality of my bread dramatically improved due primarily to (1) his mixing techniques, and (2) his autolyse (rest period) for whole wheat breads.

Any other bread book that's worth anything references this one. I think the other bread books probably sell more because they are more user friendly. But this is the foundation upon which all others seem to build.

If you're way serious about bread baking, this is the book for you.