A Blessing of Bread: The Many Rich Traditions of Jewish Bread Baking Around the World (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

A breathtaking collection of stories and 60 recipes...her impeccably written recipes ensure success. -- Fine Cooking Magazine

Glezer’s book shows the remarkable variety of the Jewish table throughout the world... -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It is reassuring to find as accomplished and authoritative a collection as this one. -- The New York Times

This is a must for the devoted bread baker. -- Cookbook Digest

Product Description

A Blessing of Bread grew out of an interview that author Maggie Glezer conducted with a rabbi's wife about the symbolism of challah, that bakery staple deeply rooted in Jewish traditions. Captivated by the myriad meanings in every twist of the bread's braid, she spent years doing research and recipe testing. The result is this landmark guide to the amazing variety of Jewish breads found in communities all over the world, from Guatemala to Russia and everywhere in between.

In it are more than 60 impeccably tested recipes both old and new, for challah and other Sabbath and holiday loaves and an exploration of the rich symbolism of their hisory, the rituals governing their baking and eating, and the sacred texts and commentaries from which these rituals derive.

There are best-ever recipes for babka and honey cake, bagels, matzot, crackers, and everyday breads such as Jewish-deli rye. It is also loaded with totally unexpected breads that thrill, such as anise, almond, and sesame-studded Moroccan Purim bread; the spiced and leaf-wrapped Ehtiopian bereketei (whole wheat Sabbath bread); and the pitalike nooni honegi of the Bukharan Jews. Oral histories, ancient legends, shtetl folktales, aphorisms, and proverbs delight and inspire, and stories of grandmothers and great-grandmothers that recall life as it once was complete this volume, the most in-depth and wide-ranging one ever published on the subject.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Artisan; 1st edition (November 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579652107
• ISBN-13: 978-1579652104
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,577 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars manna from heaven, October 24, 2004

By	Larry Mark "editor of MyJewishBooks.com" (nyc) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The author is a certified, award winning baker who knows that there is more than one way to braid a challah. Included in this book of oral histories, historical notes, and bread related anecdotes and folk stories, are the best discussions I have read of Jewish bread and challah histories, as well as fascinating recipes. It is manna min shama-yim.

The book opens with an intro on challah and bread, and an indexed listing of recipes by type of bread (including holiday breads, 6-hour or less breads, crusty breads, flavorful breads, etc.) This is followed by a chapter on the Genesis of Challah; and a Primer on bread preparation (fermenting, punching, kneading, dividing, proofing, glazing, etc.) There is even a chapter just for a mixed multitude of challah braids and shapes with step by step braiding photos, including instructions for a hand challah, a shlissel (key) challah, a string of pearls challah, and a ladder challah also. There are then chapters for bread recipes of the Ashkenazi, Sephardi, North African, Near Eastern, and New Tradition Jewish people.

Among the best recipes are ones for -- Ashkenazi: Czernowitzer Challah, Guatamalen Challah (with cardamon), Russian Challah, a ring challah, a Lithuanian Challah (no eggs, low sugar), bagels, a babka, rye bread, Lekach honey cake, and Hungarian Makos; Sephardic: Churak of Rhodes, Greek Rolls with Zante currants, Salonika style country bread, Pande Calabazi Pumpkin Bread, and Roscas with cloves; North African: Ethiopian Bereketei Sabbath Bread, Moroccan Purim Bread (chubzei), some Muffleta just for Mimouna, and Egyptian Rarifal Rarif; and Near Eastern: Iranian Barbari, various pitas, Azerbaijani Noon, Bukharan Nooni, Yemeni Kubana, Lachuch, and Samneh.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Blessing of Bread has changed my life., March 20, 2006

By	B. Feinberg (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I use A Blessing of Bread every week when I bake challah, something I never did before I received this book. The instructions are clear and the recipes produce the most divine bread I've ever eaten. Family and friends rave about the bread I bake, and I know it's not because I have a special talent; I have this very special book that I adore using. In addition to wonderful recipes for breads from around the world, the book tells the stories of the people whose recipes fill the volume. History, tradition and a large cup of love accompany every page.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning about the world from this book in your kitchen, March 21, 2006

By	Jack Kaufman (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Other reviewers have written in glowing terms about the results of using the recipes in "A Blessing of Bread:...," and while I agree with their conclusions, I feel obliged to comment on another aspect of the book that impresses me. I am impressed--make that amazed, at how Ms. Glezer has traced so many of her recipes' histories back to their origins. Reading her book is almost like getting an insider's view of Jewish kitchens around the world. Another thoughtful part of the book is the list of sources for unusual or hard-to-find ingredients used in many of the recipes. Such a list might not be particularly useful to readers in New York or Los Angeles, but for me, a resident of greater metropolitan Boise, it is a must-have if I want to actually make some of the more esoteric offerings of this great book. All I can say is "Thanks, Maggie Glezer!"