Book review – Bread, by Dean Brettschneider
Bread
By Dean Brettschneider
Jacqui Small, £23.94
The difficulty with any book whose title encompasses a whole area of cookery is that there will be many similar volumes that have gone before it. These will, of course, vary in scope and the degree of commitment and experience expected from the reader.
But in order to compete, any such book must be informative for the relative beginner, have genuine insight for the more experienced and be completely authoritative.
The author needs to be an expert, for this will not be a collection of idiosyncratic recipes and anecdotes from a successful restaurant, but rather a textbook, a trusted guide and manual.
Dean Brettschneider is a comparatively new name for me. His bakery prowess is highly thought of in the Far East and his home country of New Zealand. His skills are in demand at major international hotel groups and Rick Stein is a fan.
the book to a junior but enthusiastic commis and was rewarded by excellent and interesting breads.
This is a book primarily for those with a little experience and a lot of drive. The author obviously knows his stuff and assumes the successful baker will want to move on to more complex breads once the basics have been mastered.
Recipes range from a farmhouse white loaf through to focaccia, German Vollkorn, Swedish rye crackers, stollen and panettone.
It ends with some lovely pudding recipes: a spiced chocolate, Cointreau and sour cherry bread pudding looked particularly fine, as did cinnamon doughnuts and blueberry and cranberry bagels.
This is a great book for those entering the world of bakery and bread-making, nicely written and patiently explained.
By Shaun Hill, chef-proprietor, the Walnut Tree, Llanddewi Skirrid, Monmouthshire
If you like this, you may enjoy these
- 100 Great Breads, Paul Hollywood
- Dough, Richard Bertinet
- The Handmade Loaf, Dan Lepard
