The Village Baker

This book was written by Joe Ortiz of Gayle's Bakery in Capitola, California and published eleven years ago. At the time, the `Library Journal' said that good books for the home baker are few and far between. In 1993, Ortiz' book was just on the crest of renewed interest in artisinal breads. At the time, the most noteworthy books on artisinal bread baking were Carol Field's `The Italian Baker' and Bernard Clayton's `The Breads of France'. Peter Reinhart had written the small, quirky `Brother Juniper's Bread Book' which was long on one big idea, but not very detailed about some other aspects of baking. Bernard Clayton's giant `The Complete Book of Breads' did not even cover two of the three main types of yeast rising bread methods. It was more concerned with giving good, easy home recipes for a wide variety of different breads based entirely on `La methode directe' or the direct method. Therefore, Ortiz' excellent bibliography contains mostly works written in French.In the last eleven years, a number of excellent books on artisinal bread have been written and published, especially by Peter Reinhart, Nancy Silverton, and Rose Levy Beranbaum. I have not read or reviewed Reinhart's award winning `The Bread Baker's Apprentice', so my favorite artisinal bread text before today was Beranbaum's `The Bread Bible'. Ortiz' book has just taken it's place. Beranbaum's book is almost twice as long and has a long introduction on ingredients and general techniques, but her presentation of the differences between the three major methods for yeast bread making simply do not succeed in making the subject quite as clear, as interesting, and as convincing as Ortiz' book. Beranbaum's book is still a great work with recipes for lots of types of breads that Ortiz does not cover. Before becoming too enmeshed with praise for Ortiz book, I must say I have taken a quick look at `The Bread Baker's Apprentice' and it appears to be the equal to `The Village Baker' on many points and may offer illumination on subjects Ortiz does not cover completely.The heart of Ortiz book is simple artisinal bread made with flour, water, salt, and yeast. In some Tuscan bread, even salt is left out leaving three ingredients. In many breads, the yeast is captured from the ambient microflora, leaving but two ingredients added by the baker.The thing that Ortiz makes so clear is the distinction between the three main methods for using yeast to leaven bread. The oldest method responsible for true sourdough breads, and the method most clearly characterizing `artisinal' baking is what the French call the `levain' method. With regional variations, this is THE method for rising dough until the production of brewer's yeast in 1810, a conversion which became complete with the production of baker's yeast in 1900. The `levain' method required at least 24 hours, as long as you had a viable starter. To create a starter required another four to seven days.The direct method of leavening with commercial baker's

Joe Ortiz's book changed my life. I had been baking straight yeasted breads for several years. These were good, decent breads, but plain. I longed for a more complex loaf - one with the irregular holes in the crumb, one that had a chewier texture, and longer shelf life. Joe Ortiz's book showed me how to achieve all those goals. His book also explains why certain methods produce different results. Another of the helpful features of his book is that he distinguishes his recipes by fermentation method(i.e. sourdough, sponge, old dough, or straight yeast), which makes it a book a beginning baker can use, and grow with as the baker's skill develops (the straight yeasted doughs are the easist). I think this is a must-have book for any serious, or semi-serious homebaker. This is THE book for the homebaker who wants to take their baking up to the next level.

As an Artisan Bread Baking Instructor, I found Joe Ortiz' book, The Village Baker to be the best book on the market for helping the novice bread baker to understand in plain language the magic of true bread. I have had 35 students use this book so far, and they have all exclaimed it to be the best. The depth of knowledge shows through, without being pretensious, and the breads themselves were crisp, sensual, and tasty, without exception. If you were allowed only one book on the art of true bread this is the one to have.

I've been baking bread for 20 years and am very particular about the bread books I buy. Ortiz's book is without equal. Some of the recipes may seem long and complicated, but trust me, they *can* be adapted to the schedule of a working person, and really, those tiny quantities of yeast really do work.