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Steven L. Kaplan

Good Bread Is Back: A Contemporary History of French Bread, the Way It Is Made, and the People Who Make It Hardcover – December 20, 2006

by Steven Laurence Kaplan (Author), Catherine Porter (Translator)

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Good Bread Is Back is a beautifully illustrated book for foodies and Francophiles alike. Widely recognized as a leading expert on French bread, the historian Steven Laurence Kaplan takes readers into aromatic Parisian bakeries as he explains how good bread began to reappear in France in the 1990s, following almost a century of decline in quality.

Kaplan sets the stage for the comeback of good bread by describing how, while bread comprised the bulk of the French diet during the eighteenth century, by the twentieth, per capita consumption had dropped off precipitously. This was largely due to social and economic modernization and the availability of a wider choice of foods. But part of the problem was that the bread did not taste good. Centuries-old artisanal breadmaking techniques were giving way to conveyor belts that churned out flavorless fluff. In a culture in which bread is sacrosanct, bad bread was more than a gastronomical disappointment; it was a threat to France’s sense of itself. With a nudge from the millers (who make the flour) and assistance from the government, bakers rallied, reclaiming their reputations as artisans by marketing their traditionally made loaves as the authentic French bread.

By the mid-1990s, bread officially designated as “bread of the French tradition”—bread made without additives or freezing—was in demand throughout Paris. What makes this artisanal bread good? Kaplan explains, meticulously describing the ideal crust and crumb (interior), mouth feel, aroma, and taste. He discusses the breadmaking process in extraordinary detail, from the ingredients to the kneading, shaping, and baking, and even to the sound bread should make when it comes out of the oven. He offers a system for assessing bread’s quality and a language for discussing its attributes. A historian and a connoisseur, Kaplan does more than tell the story of the revival of good bread in France. He makes the reader see, smell, taste, feel, and even hear why it is so very wonderful that good bread is back.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Duke University Press Books
Publication date

December 20, 2006
Dimensions

6.25 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

0822338335
ISBN-13

978-0822338338
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Good Bread Is Back will become the canonical book on 20th century French baking, not only in English but in French too.”

― The Fresh Loaf

“[F]or anyone with a broad interest in bread, the book is an excellent and comprehensive look at the product and how it has shaped, and been shaped by, French society.”

― Bakers Journal

“[Kaplan is] not just the leading authority on French bread but the conscience of French baking—a conscience that does not hesitate to tug. . . . Good Bread is Back [is] a punchy, compendious account of how French baking returned to its artisanal roots and sparked a revival in quality crusts.”

-- Michael Steinberger ― Financial Times

“This is very much a bread nerd's book. . . . It is a fascinating story, and Kaplan is the person to tell it.”

-- David Auerbach ― Independent Weekly

“A good baguette is as integral a part of French cultural heritage as Paris and Lacan, and this beautiful book forms a fitting tribute, researched, written and illustrated with finesse.”

― French Book News

“Professor Kaplan’s new book is a tasty meditation on the many pleasures of good bread, wrapped in an object lesson on the evolution of artisanal production. Many readers who do not share the author’s passion for the technical aspects of breadmaking will nonetheless be impressed by it. And anyone who has ever stood in a French bakery savoring the scent and admiring the array of delectable brown loaves will be heartened by his optimistic conclusion that good bread will always drive out bad. It is, as Kaplan might say, a delicious book with a beautifully gilded crust and a pearly, chewy crumb.”

-- Steve Zdatny H-France ― H-Net Reviews

“Students of French history and food will find [Good Bread is Back] completely absorbing and it should be required reading for any professional.”

― Library Journal

“Throughout this work, Kaplan powerfully demonstrates the symbolic charge of bread as it is ‘’deeply bound up with the basic values of sociability and well-being, with sacred and secular in communion’ (304). . . . Kaplan reminds us through bread, that bread sums up the human experience.”

-- Samuel Snyder ― Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics

"[A] book every serious American bread enthusiast ought to read. . . . A good storyteller, Kaplan describes his large cast of characters in sharp detail, with numerous protagonists and antagonists, and does a fine job of capturing the center of good in each of them."

-- Peter Reinhart ― Gastronomica

"A magnificent combination of polemic and scholarship, it asks how the superlative French bread of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries gave way to the disappointing industrial loaves of the 1960s onwards; and how these in turn, have been happily supplanted by a new generation of artisananal baguettes, batards and boules."

-- Bee Wilson ― TLS

Review

“You will never look at a French baguette in the same way again. Chock full of delicious details about every aspect of breadmaking, prepared with verve and loving devotion by a master of his craft, this book has something to appeal to every reader. Bread will never again seem a simple food; Steven Laurence Kaplan uses it to open up the deepest secrets of French life in the modern world.”

-- Lynn Hunt, coauthor of ― Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Duke University Press Books (December 20, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0822338335
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0822338338
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.58 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,388,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,402 in French Cooking, Food & Wine
- #2,075 in Bread Baking (Books)
- #3,364 in Gastronomy History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
18 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		36%
4 star		34%
3 star		6%
2 star		17%
1 star		6%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Christopher R. Green

difficult read, but then, it's about france

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

I found it's a tough read, and jammed with technical information. Somewhat confusing g timelines

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

It was a gift and the recipient liked it.

Helpful

tommylebaker

Before it is good to eat, it has to be good to think!

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

Every prime minister should read this book! Respect fermentation! Respect humanity! Totally enjoyed the social history of bread and a country.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Cesar Augusto Fogarin

The book is an excellent source for those who believe that bread

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2015

Verified Purchase

The book is an excellent source for those who believe that bread, butter and wine are the base food of the western civilization. The best book on the matter.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

kitinthehat

Confusing

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2013

Verified Purchase

A subject that I would really like to know more about but I just couldn't get into this. Is it badly edited? Very hard to follow,

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ed M

Good Bread, Prosaic Writing

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2010

Verified Purchase

This book is so wordy that I gave up on it long before getting to any good stuff - if I would have found any good stuff. The book needs good editing.

5 people found this helpful

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disgruntled buyer

A DESERTATION

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2010

Verified Purchase

I WAS SOMEWHAT MISLED BY THE INFOR PROVIDED ABOUT THE BOOK BEFORE I BOUGHT. AS IT TURNS OUT YOU GET A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE SOCIAL THROWS OF FRANCE ABOUT THE BREAD MAKERS OF FRANCE, I DIDN'T REALIZE BAKERIES WERE SOCIALIZED WITH PRICE CONTROLS. GO FIGURE, HOWEVER, THE BOOK IS BORING AS HELL. LOTS OF GENERALITIES . IF YOU WANT TO MAKE BREAD THE FRENCH WAY, BETTER BUY A COOK BOOK ON BREAD.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ann Danowitz

Not quite the book i thought

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2013

Verified Purchase

Was looking for something written in french in the mid 19thc century about the relationship between bakers, farmers and the villagers.

One person found this helpful

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