Brother Juniper's Bread Book: Slow Rise as Method and Metaphor by Br. Peter Reinhart, M. F. K. Fisher (Foreword by)

Product Details

Synopsis

"This classic guide to artisanal bread is back with a fresh new look, just in time to take advantage of the recent surge in popularity of at-home baking. As an award-winning baker and member of a relig"

Annotation

"Delightful. . . . His inventive breads--struan, wild-rice and onion, goat ricotta and chive, cajun three-pepper, Tex-mex cumin--will make you a believer."--People magazine. "A fascinating collection of recipes and anecdotal recipes, rich with humor, warmth, and love."--The Philadelphia Daily News.

Publishers Weekly

Brother Juniper's Bakery in Sonoma County, Calif., is run by Brother Peter Reinhart and his wife Sister Susan as a ministry of the Christ the Saviour Brotherhood. And Reinhart's subtitle introduces some amiable confusion, for whereas the author argues for the ``slow rise'' method as a general principle in developing ``character'' in a bread and crust and demonstrates its application in a fine recipe and procedure for ``Sweet French Bread,'' more frequently he departs from it. The highly praised ``Struan,'' for instance, a five-grain traditional Scottish ``golden loaf'' that ``radiates in many directions,'' tolerates only two rather quick risings, character being born by ``conditioners'' such as buttermilk and polenta, rather than process. Brother Peter's wish to present a central principle for bread lets us in for a certain amount of New Age claptrap that is, however, well balanced by pragmatism. He makes insightful use of whole grains but has not a word to spare for unleavened breads. This book has much to say to the experienced baker, although the novice will find basics adequately covered. (Oct.)

Biography

Peter Reinhart is a lay brother in the Christ the Savior Brotherhood, an eastern orthodox service order. He is the author of the James Beard Award-winning cookbook Crust & Crumb and the editor of the chapter on bread in the revised edition of Joy of Cooking. After teaching breads for four years at the California Culinary Academy, he is now a faculty member at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.