The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread

561 Pages·2001·21.14 MB·English

by  Peter Reinhart

Copyright © 2001 by Peter Reinhart
Photography © 2001 by Ron Manville
Photographs AW01, AW02, AW03, AW04 and AW05 by Aaron Wehner
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a
division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com
Prop styling by Linnea Leeming
Student assistants: Rina Hosaka, Alex Molnar, Jennifer Passarella, and Fumie Shibazaki
The bagel recipe originally apeared in Fine Cooking (Feb./Mar. 2001); the corn bread and the cranberry-walnut bread
recipes originally appeared in Bon Appétit (Nov. 1999). The wheat diagram is used with permission from the Wheat Foods
Council.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reinhart, Peter.
The bread baker’s apprentice : mastering the art of extraordinary bread / Peter Reinhart.
p. cm.
Includes index.
eISBN: 978-1-60774129-9
1. Bread. I. Title.
TX769 .R4147 2001
641.8′15—dc21
2001002285
v3.1

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Introduction
I. What Is It About Bread?
II. Deconstructing Bread: A Tutorial
Assumptions and Rationales
The Twelve Stages of Bread:
Evoking the Fullness of Flavor from the Grain
III. Formulas
The Final Grace Note:
Wood-Fired Baking in Bennett Valley
Resources
Index
FORMULAS
Pre-ferments
Pâte fermentée
Poolish
Biga
Anadama Bread
Artos: Greek Celebration Breads
Bagels
Brioche and Brioche Relatives
Casatiello
Challah
Ciabatta
Cinnamon Buns and Sticky Buns
Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread
Corn Bread
Cranberry-Walnut Celebration Bread
English Muffins
Focaccia
French Bread
Italian Bread
Kaiser Rolls
Lavash Crackers
Light Wheat Bread
Marbled Rye Bread
Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire
Pain à l’Ancienne
Pain de Campagne
Pane Siciliano
Panettone
Pizza Napoletana
Poolish Baguettes
Portuguese Sweet Bread
Potato Rosemary Bread
Pugliese
Sourdough Bread and Variations
Basic Sourdough Bread
New York Deli Rye
100% Sourdough Rye Bread
Poilâne-Style Miche
Pumpernickel Bread
Sunflower Seed Rye
Stollen
Swedish Rye (Limpa)
Tuscan Bread
Vienna Bread
White Bread: Three Multipurpose Variations
Whole-Wheat Bread
Potato, Cheddar, and Chive Torpedoes
Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Creating a book of this scope takes, it seems, more than a village, and so
I have unabashedly drawn upon all of the villages in which I’ve lived
these past twenty years. Let me begin by thanking my wife, Susan, who
endured yet another round of marathon writing bursts, supporting me
with patience and lots of tea and vitamins.
The Ten Speed team has been fantastic at every level. Thanks begin
with Publisher Kirsty Melville and Editorial Director Lorena Jones.
Aaron Wehner, my editor, has been an exemplar of enthusiasm and sage
guidance, proving again that behind every successful writer is a great
(and over-worked) editor. Art Director Nancy Austin is not only talented
but also great to work with, establishing a warm, collegial atmosphere
and encouraging creative ferment. Ten Speed’s enormous support for this
project has, I believe, evoked from me the fullness of my potential.
Thank you also to Andrea Chesman, Sharon Silva, Linda Bouchard, and
Ken DellaPenta for expert copyediting, proofreading, and indexing,
respectively.
Ron Manville poured his heart and soul into the photography. I was
extremely fortunate, upon moving to Providence, to find someone so
close to home who could capture in images the vision that was in my
head. It was a joy to work with him. Our creative cabal was completed
by Linnea Leeming, who brought us incredible energy and joy, along
with her inventive prop styling.
Johnson & Wales University, my haven of the past two years, has also
supported this project with great enthusiasm. I’m especially indebted to
Dean Karl Guggenmos, who allowed me to use the labs and classrooms
for testing and photography, and to my department chair, Martha
Crawford who, as a world-class competition pastry chef, truly
understood the nature of this undertaking. Thanks also to Pamela Peters,
the director of culinary education, for her unflagging support and
consistently positive attitude. The university’s leadership team, including
Dr. John Yena, John Bowen, Dr. Irving Schneider, Tom Wright, and Tom
Farrell, sets a tone of inspiration and forward thinking. Assistant Public
Relations Director, Linda Beaulieu, has been fantastic in helping me
spread news of the bread revolution. A special thanks to my colleague
Steve Kalble, a great teacher and one of the most passionate bread
bakers I’ve ever known. Thanks also to Ciril Hitz, pastry instructor and
bread artiste, who taught me many shaping techniques even while he
was in training for the 2002 Coupe du Monde competition. The entire
faculty at Johnson & Wales inspires me with their commitment to
education and their love of the transmission of knowledge. They are,
collectively, my current mentors.
My students are also my teachers, but a few must be singled out for
their special contributions, helping enormously with the photo shoot and
covering for me on their own time when I was on crutches. Fumie
Shibazaki (pictured on the cover), Alex Molnar, Jennifer Passarella, and
Rina Hosaka make me proud to be a teacher.
Before Johnson & Wales I was nurtured at the California Culinary
Academy where I first began my exploration of pain à l’ancienne. While
there, I was privileged to work with chefs Robert Parks, Reg Elgin, Tony
Marano, Nick Snell, and many others, including Greg Tompkins, who is
now doing great work for Starbucks. Thanks also to my former CCA
student, Peter DiCroce, for his passion for pane siciliano that led to the
breakthrough formula in this book.
Thank you to that unique fellowship known as the Baker’s Dozen and
its founders, Marion Cunningham and Flo Braker, along with my fellow
bread chapter editors Fran Gage and Carol Field, and all the other
chapter editors. After seven years of brainstorming and editorial
meetings and countless recipe testing workshops, The Baker’s Dozen
Cookbook is coming out, amazingly, the same month as this book. I
learned so much about baking and the love of baking by being a part of
that group.
Three local Providence bakeries contributed their support and their
loaves for some of the photos. Providence, like so many cities around the
country, is experiencing the bread revolution through both old and new