It sounds like an engaging premise: the author bakes a loaf of bread each week for a year, learning about the science of fermentation and visiting some of the world's most famous artisan bakeries in the process. However, upon realizing that he bakes the SAME recipe in each of the 52 chapters, the book becomes less interesting.
William Alexander displays his talent when he humourously describes harvesting his own wheat crop and attempting to build a hearth oven in his backyard. Otherwise, though, the book contains a tedious (and sometimes inaccurate) catalogue of the infinite ways to combine water, flour, salt and yeast. If such a memoir can't sustain the attention of a certified bread nerd like myself, there's little hope for it!
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