Bread Matters: Why and How to Make Your Own

(Paperback)

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Description

Andrew Whitley, organic baker and founder of The Village Bakery, reveals the deplorable state into which mass produced bread has fallen, and the secrets behind making good, nutritious bread at home.
All is not well in British baking. Commercial bread is laced with additives to make it look good and stay soft. It uses varieties of wheat that have been bred for high yield and baking performance with little concern for human nutrition. To rush it through the bakery at the lowest possible cost, it's dosed with four times as much yeast as before. Described as 'fresh' when it may have been frozen and re-heated, it's sold as a loss-leader at knock-down prices which undermine what little respect it may once have commanded.

Even before the Atkins diet frightened people off, there was evidence of a massive growth of intolerance to gluten, wheat and yeast in particular. Call it coincidence. Dismiss it as hypochondria if you will. But things have come to a pretty pass when people avoid their staple food the staff of life in droves.

Bread Matters offers a solution. Revealing the madness behind this modern adulteration of our most basic food as only an insider can, organic baker Andrew Whitley, founder of The Village Bakery in Melmerby, shows why and how to make real bread at home. Unlike many bread book authors, he has baked for a living for over 25 years. His recipes are fool-proof because he explains whats really going on, demystifying the science, sharing a practical bakers craft. Using the skills he deploys on his popular courses, he guides and inspires beginners and seasoned bakers alike. And he brings good news to those who have had to abandon bread because of dietary sensitivity, showing how to bake tasty and nutritious food without yeast, wheat or gluten.

Reviews

'What an important book; passionate and polemical and full of truth. The chapter too on gluten-free baking is original and inspiring.'Bee Wilson, Sunday Telegraph and New Statesman 'This will be the most important book on baking since the publication of Elizabeth David's "English Bread and Yeast Cookery".' Rose Prince 'Makes for interesting reading, and Whitley makes the information accessible by using easy-to-follow tables where appropriate!Throughout the book Whitley has dotted interesting historical footnotes to recipes and practical tips to recover from baking disasters. The book is comprehensive in its span of recipes and its examination of the baking process.' Caterer and Hotelkeeper 'A superb and necessary new book.' Bee Wilson, The Sunday Telegraph 'Every bit as feisty as the title implies!a good sense book that includes recipes for sour-dough and gluten-free baking.' The Independent 'The best food book of the year. Part counterblast against the shocking state of British baking, part manifesto for us all to get our hands floury and do something about it. Essential reading for anyone who cares about their daily loaf.' Financial Times Pick of the Year 'Committed to the cause of getting us to eat properly, Bread Matters explains clearly what's wrong with commercial bread and how to bake your own.' Independent

Author Bio

Andrew Whitley is a leading authority on organic baking and food issues. After studying Russian at Sussex and Moscow, he joined the BBC Russian Service, where he made programmes about the emerging environmental crisis. He left London in 1976 to grow his own food on an organic smallholding in Cumbria, and went on to found The Village Bakery, which has won a string of awards, culminating in the Organic Trophy. Andrew has been an occasional contributor to the Radio 4 Food Programme and has written on bread and related matters for specialist journals. He is chair of the Soil Associations Processing Standards Committee and a trustee of Voluntary Action Cumbria, the local Rural Community Council in Cumbria.