Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Tartine Bread is a very good introductory textbook, rather than a cookbook, on baking naturally leavened, or sourdough, bread. Why do I call it a textbook and not a cookbook? A cookbook is a collection of recipes that one can choose from almost at random and expect any techniques required to be explained in the recipe; one doesn't have to read or study anything much outside the recipe chosen, and the techniques described aren't discussed in depth. Tartine Bread, in contrast, has a lengthy and in-depth discussion of most of the techniques required by subsequent recipes in the first one, Basic Country Bread, and does not discuss them elsewhere; furthermore, many important terms used in the other recipes, for example, leaven, rest, bench rest, turn, bulk fermentation, are defined in that recipe and nowhere else. A careful reading of the Basic Country Bread recipe is therefore necessary to approach the other recipes in the book. But it is also a textbook in the sense that the techniques described can be freely applied elsewhere: I applied the dough handling methods described in the Basic Country Bread recipe to a sourdough bread recipe from another cookbook, and not only had to expend very little effort (Basic Country Bread dough is intermittently "turned" during its first rise rather than kneaded) but was rewarded with the best rise of any bread I'd baked to date, and a tender crumb. I find there are some significant shortcomings to Tartine Bread, however. Most seriously, the discussion of how to make a starter is both laborious and vague; there are many simpler and more detailed instructions for making starter available on the web. If I hadn't already had some starter of my own, I might have given up all hope on reading the method here. (If you're already familiar with how to make starter, the starter used in Tartine Bread is 50% bread flour/50% whole wheat with 100% hydration). Not as serious but certainly annoying is that while there are plenty of photographs along with the Basic Country Bread recipe that show the dough handling techniques, they aren't labeled with the specific step they show and often aren't on or facing the page where the step shown is discussed. Last (and least important, but I've got to say it), I find the prose in the introduction and accompanying materials a bit precious and breathy. In sum, however, I find this is a valuable book on baking bread, and one I'll be referring to often.