Product Description

Classic Regional Breads From Europe and America

This paperback edition of the IACP award-nominated treasure is one of the essential references for any baker worth their salt. Joe Ortiz's acclaimed collection of recipes from the village bakers of France, Italy, Germany, and regional America is full of healthful and delicious departures from the usual array of baked goods. Nearly 100 recipes, illustrated throughout.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186153 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-01
• Released on: 2003-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.com Review
The long and short of it is you could pick up a copy of The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz, start at the beginning, bake your way to the last page, and open your own village bakery. A California regional baker since 1978 (Joe Ortiz bakes breads, and his wife bakes pastries at Gayle's Bakery in Capitola, California), Ortiz brings his years of personal experience and his endless travels through Europe to the one subject he holds so dear: good bread. And by good bread, he means the best of what France, Germany, and Italy have to offer, as well as notable contributions from great American bakers working in the traditional, village-baker style: dense, crusty, flavorful loaves of bread that support life in and of themselves. Ortiz holds out the promise that this can actually be accomplished in the home kitchen--with the highest standards.

Ortiz's book starts in the style of a primer with sections on the basic ingredients, kinds of leavenings, and basic techniques and procedures. He wants the newcomer to bake the very basic French loaf (think baguette) several times to get one decent loaf under the belt buckle. Then it's open season on regional breads, rye breads, and specialty breads. In a final section, Ortiz gives the true enthusiast professional style recipes and ideas. --Schuyler Ingle

From Publishers Weekly
With this inspired book, Ortiz, a Capitola, Calif.-based "village baker," generously and accurately shares the art of producing "crusty, flavorful bread--with a chewy, voluptuous texture, the aroma of nuts, and a caramelized crust." The product of the serious study of French, German and Italian bakers and his own experimentation back at home, the book brings together of methods and recipes, including such mouth-watering selections as country-style French bread, raisin nut rye rolls, onion wheat bread and polenta bread. What makes the volume special--in addition to Ortiz's admirable dedication to thoroughness and accuracy--are the homemade starters that are used instead of commercially produced yeasts to give breads character. While recipes for professional bakers are included, the home baker--even the novice--should be able to follow the Ortiz method and come up with some great stuff.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Ortiz's "village bakers" work on a small scale, treating bread making as a craft rather than as mass production; they may be found in tiny European towns or in large cities in America, baking bread for their communities. The author is himself one of these dedicated individuals, with a bakery near Santa Cruz, and he has refined his experience by working with professional bakers abroad. Here he offers a thorough course for the home cook on bread making, with lengthy discussions of ingredients and techniques, followed by recipes for authentic regional breads of France, Italy, and Germany and for American "village breads." Bernard Clayton's The Breads of France (1978) and Carol Field's The Italian Baker ( LJ 11/15/85) cover some of this ground. Otherwise, good bread books for the serious home cook have been few and far between, making this authoritative work highly recommended.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

This is a GREAT Book
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.

This is the best artisan bread book I have ever used
As a nearly 30 year home bread baker, I was not expecting to find this fresh new look at breadmaking by the traditional artisans of France, Germany and Italy. But Joe Ortiz's "The Village Baker" is both a joy and a revelation. Here are many easy to follow recipes based on starters and sponges ("poolish" in French). Here you can see, and almost smell, the fresh-baked peasant breads of Europe as they come out of the traditional brick oven. It's all here -- whether you're looking for french pain de campagne, or Italian pane integrale, you need look no further. The Italian ciabatta recipe, which appears thoroughly unlikely to succeed, produces an exceptional flat bread honeycombed with airy holes to soak up sauces, or extra virgin olive oil. Above all, the book conveys a sense of timelessness , and the enduring value of good bread made according to its own timetable. The recipes are clear and easy to follow. I have spent several months happily working my way through this exceptional book -- some surprises but no failures. At least five stars...

Excellent Book!
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.