The Bread Book

Linda Collister is devoted to bread making. The Bread Book, which features her recipes for loaves from all over the world, exemplifies her commitment to her subject but without the rigidity and complication--or oversimplification--of similar works. Calmly, and taking into account every possible bread-making contingency, she explains how to produce a variety of breads, from basic sandwich loaves to ciabatta. But it's the photos--more than 300 of them--that set this book apart. For example, the basic loaf recipe is accompanied by 22 detailed shots, showing every preparatory step from crumbling yeast to slashing the loaf before baking. Amateur and practiced bakers alike will welcome this careful illustration of a process that relies so much on visual cues. In addition to covering basic, flat, and quick breads, Collister offers chapters on such specialty loaves as fruit, nut, and savory breads (cheese and onion loaf), celebration breads (panettone and challah), and sourdough, rye, and enriched goods (babas, savarins, and Aberdeen butteries, a delicious Scottish breakfast roll). The Bread Book is so comprehensive and the recipes so tempting that it's unfortunate to note that it is compromised by inaccurate quantity conversions and a repeated typographical glitch that obscures ingredient requirements in several recipes. Collister states that a cup of flour (no distinction is made among types) equals four ounces rather than about five, the standard equivalent for white flours. Thus, for example, 6 cups of white bread flour is stated as equivalent to 680 grams, while actual measurement shows it to weigh 822 grams--a difference of about 5 ounces. The cup or gram measure as given is, therefore, unreliable. But readers aware of these problems may still want to consult the book for its instructive photos and the other useful information it provides. --Arthur Boehm