When longtime home baker Samuel Fromartz began a quest for the ultimate baguette, he planned to go to Paris, but he had no idea how far his quest would eventually take him.
Finding himself short of freelance work, Fromartz (Organic, Inc.) pitched a story to a travel magazine: he'd work at a Parisian boulangerie. The magazine bit, and at Boulangerie Delmontel, Fromartz observed a team of master bakers, learning the secrets of their crackling, crusty baguettes. Upon returning home, Fromartz entered a competition sponsored by the Washington City Paper; his loaves won "Best Baguette in D.C." and garnered a catering request from celebrity chef Alice Waters. But his quest for the ideal loaf--or loaves--was just beginning.
Fromartz next headed to California, where he met artisanal bakers and refined his sourdough starter and technique. From there, he traveled to the Midwest--America's breadbasket--to visit family flour mills and learn about the history and production of different types of wheat. Eventually, chasing the memory of the rye bread he ate as a child in New York, Fromartz flew to Berlin to learn the secrets of baking rye. His journey ended where it began: in his kitchen, experimenting with different blends of flours, yeast and starters to create varied and flavorful loaves.
Part food science, part cultural history, part memoir, Fromartz's book blends a variety of ingredients (the history of wheat production, the science of yeast fermentation, half a dozen bread recipes) into a delicious, informative dish that will have readers reaching for their aprons. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams