30 Breads to Bake Before You Die Book Review – Bread Lovers Nirvana

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Category: Books

Published on Friday, 20 September 2024 10:37

Written by Janet Walker

30 Breads to Bake Before You Die, from Ulysses Press and author Allyson Reedy, presents a collection of recipes, from the simplistic to the challenging, divine, favorites of thirty of the most well-known bakers around the country.

To a baker, nothing beats the aroma of freshly baked bread and across the 112 pages of 30 Breads to Bake Before You Die, we begin to understand the obsession with the delicious and indulgent carb-filled loaves, rolls, sweet and flat breads each a decadent extravagance alone and luxurious experience dripping with butters, jams, jellies or filled with a concoction of delights.

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Reedy begins by introducing readers to the art of creating a sourdough starter, and as she emphasizes keeping it alive, which takes seven days, and is a commitment to the process. She also explains her skill level, which is essentially at the same level of most of her expected readers. She also breaks down the baker's jargon, into language that the home chef or even the novice baker can understand. While she presents the sourdough starter first, she doesn't suggest that any baker's first effort should be creating sourdough bread.

"Chapter 1 Loaves" introduces readers to the wonderful world of the bread loaf and as we see, they come in round loaves, single flat sheet loaves, and small pan loaves. Here she includes recipes from Beginner's Sourdough, from Maurizio Leo, author of The Perfect Loaf; Marble Rye Sourdough, from Zach Martinucci, Rebel Bread in Denver, Colorado; The Baguette recipe courtesy of Sarah Bergin, of Bakery Four in Denver, Colorado; Focaccia, from Joanne Chang, Flour Bakery in Boston, MA, from the book, Flour, Too, published by Chronicle Books, and Hokkaido Milk Bread, from Sarah Kozuma, Horseshoe Café, in Newmarket, NH. Other recipes include Brioche with Honey Butter (pg. 45) and Challah (page 47).

Most bakers would see bread, and the various loaf styles, as the extent of bread making. However, the loaf is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bread baking. "Chapter 2 Smaller Carbs," are the types of breads that are most common, dinner rolls, croissants, bagels, biscuits, muffins, and pretzels, all a part of the wonderful world of breads and included in this chapter.

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She includes Maple Salt and Pepper Bagels, (pg.62), from Daniela Moreira, who owns Call Your Mother Deli in Washington, DC, Croissants (pg. 55) by Dominique Ansel, owner of Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York, NY and Las Vegas, NV, and The Ultimate Dinner Rolls, (pg. 53) courtesy of Tessa Arias, from Handle the Heat, and English Muffins,(pg. 74) provided by Caroline Glover, Annette in Aurora, CO.

Bread recipes, if they are followed, will usually yield a product that tastes good. Design and aesthetics need cultivating, so if the plan is to serve delicious hot home baked dinner rolls at an important dinner party, it might be better to test the recipe and perfect the design building skills first, or you may end up with delicious moon rocks.

"Chapter 3 Flats" includes five Flat Bread recipes such as Flour Tortillas (pg. 78) from Ana Frias of Muy Delish, and Pizza Crust (pg. 84) from Claire Czarnecki, Pizzeria Alberico in Boulder, CO, as well as Pita with Spicy Anchovy Oil, Matzah, and Cheesy Nann.

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"Chapter 4 Sweets" are probably the most common bread recipes known to bread bakers. Included in 30 Breads to Bake Before You Die is Banana Bread (Pg 92) from Snejana Andreeva of The Modern Noona.

For the curious, Banana Bread, in 2020, was Google's most searched recipe.  In fact, Banana Bread, for over 20 years, has been the most sought-after recipe online. And why not? It's easy, even the culinary challenged could make it, and has no special requirements, no kneading, and yields a crowd-pleasing delicious treat. She includes four other Sweet Bread recipes such as Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, chocolate Babka King Cake, Chocolate Chip Brioche, and Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

30 Breads to Bake Before You Die is a bread lover's nirvana. A compact, must-have, addition for every level from the beginner baker to the home-schooled home chef, 30 Breads to Bake Before You Die offers all baker's a recipe and opportunity to improve and level up their baking skills.

Available online, and at fine bookstores everywhere.

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Title: 30 Breads to Bake Before You Die.

Author: Allyson Reedy.

Language: English.

Release Date: April 2024.

Publisher: Ulysses Press.

Cover Design: Rachel Castro.

Photography: Venessa Mir (with exceptions).

Images: Used with Permission.

Length: 112 pages.

ISBN: 978-1-64604-679-9.

MSRP: $24.95 (U.S.), $33.95 (CAN.).