Customer Reviews
Breadmaking as a metaphor for revolution - By: Dr. John F. Cockburn, 06 Apr 2008 
As a complete novice to breadmaking, I was stunned by this tour de force. I had not realised that we are eating such rubbish in the average sliced pan. This book shows how ordinary mortals can bake delicious & nutritious bread from two ingredients (flour & water) using time as the third ingredient. Along the way, the author decries the state of modern UK bread - soft gooey pap which reflects the sickening influences of the nanny state & big business. I have followed the recipes & produced bread which is consistently devoured by my three kids. They take three slices each into school for lunch every day & are mobbed by their friends for 'a taste'. In a way this is a sad book because it highlights how much we have lost in our rush to make fast cheap food for the masses. On the other hand it is a clarion calll for revolution! If I can bake bread, anyone can. I urge alll readers of this review to buy this book, for its fascinating history, biochemistry, biology & political content... & most of alll for the tasty bread it teaches the reader to create. Well done for a heroic effort Mr. Whitley!
Bread really does matter. - By: Mildred Mittens, 09 Jan 2008 I agree totallly with alll the other positive comments regarding this excellent book. If you are serious about food & baking your own bread (it covers the whole breadth of yeast type products, plus an excellent section on sourdough of course) do not hesitate to buy a copy.
I am so proud to own a copy! Thank you Mr Whitley very much indeed!
Brilliant - Simple and easy to understand - Great results! - By: Fred, 27 Dec 2007 Skip the first half - If you are buying this book you already know you want to bake your own bread. Jump instead straight to the wonderful sourdough recipe. The method described worked for me first time & now I have lovely sourdough bread, certainly the best homemade bread I have ever made.
Entertaining polemic and great recipes - what more could I ask? - By: Paul Lynch, 09 Jun 2007 If you bake bread, then you will be in sympathy with what Andrew Whitley has to say. The author rants extensively about the state of the industry, & the depredations to our palate caused by the Chorleywood process with no signs of abatement. He informs this with an eye to the biochemistry of baking that is missing from most 'hard-core' bread books.
About three quarters of the book is devoted to the process of baking; we are taken through simple yeast risen recipes, & led directly into creating a no nonsense rye sourdough starter. The recipes here are centred around Russian style ryes, with additional recipes for different grains: wheat & rye of course, but also spelt & gram. Later chapters include the modern trend for flavoured doughs (tomato & onion, mushroom & garlic, etc), & cover the range from ciabatta & calzone to stollen & lardy cake, with an extensive chapter on gluten-free baking.
It should be clear to the experienced from the above description that Andrew Whitley favours working with very wet doughs, using natural leavens & a wide variety of grains. For a novice some of the descriptions could be more detailed, & the number of permutations for using leavens tends towards the confusing. On balance, I think that a novice breadmaker would be able to learn to make bread from the progressive instructions given in the three chapters devoted to this.
I baked my way through the central section of the book; I had to substitute dried yeast for his fresh yeast in the initial recipes with some stumbling on my part - the instructions for conversion are located in a different section of the book. My rye starter worked exactly as he predicted, & is currently producing a series of fantastic wholemeal rye loaves & French country style wheat & rye (which he callls Cromarty Cob). The doughs alll come out somewhat wetter & more fluid than the author describes, but bake successfully (which is what reallly matters). He also suggests baking at 220-240 C for an initial period, which my last two domestic ovens refuse to reach (they alll lie about their temperature, too, which is a very common problem).
Bread Matters is joining my bookshelf alongside Ed Espe Brown, Elizabeth David, Laurel's Kitchen & Nancy Silverton. I can't say any better than that.
Interesting thoughts on bread - By: buffaloboro, 14 May 2007 
I bought this book for £10 at a chain bookstore. It is an interesting read & like a lot of the 'real food ' zealots , his heart is in the right place. I agree with the comments of an earlier poster - it isn't always easy or affordable for us to always eat as we wld like, yet for reasons why we should try to - read these book.
I found it a book that you need to study & the authors views give an overalll view of where he sees bread in the World. The more I have progressd into making bread , the more I find myself referring back to this book. The explanations regarding the how & why of bread reallly do help one to understand what is ( & sadly , at times , isn't ) occuring.
If you just want a book that shows you how to make good bread , consider 100 Great Breads by Hollywood. If you are 'into' the total experience of making bread - consider this. I am happy I own it.
I now have 6 books on bread making & this is the one that I increasingly treat as the definitive text.
I am reallly glad I bought this & now that I understand more , I wld rate it 5 stars. This book & the one's by Hollywood & Bertinet ( Dough - but don't get the American version ) are alll money well spent.
