Bread Book: Ideas and Innovations from the Future of Grain, Flour, and Fermentation

A visionary baker reveals what's next in bread, drawing on a decade of innovations in grain farming, flour milling, and fermentation techniques to deliver groundbreaking recipes for nutrient-rich, exceptionally flavorful breads and nourishing meals to make with them.

More than a decade ago, Chad Robertson's country levain recipe taught a generation of bread bakers to replicate the creamy crumb, crackly crust, and unparalleled flavor of his world-famous Tartine bread. It was the recipe that launched hundreds of thousands of sourdough starters and attracted a stream of notable understudies, from Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese to Rene Redzepi of Noma. Now Robertson has teamed up with Tartine's director of bread, Jennifer Latham, to explore how superior grain and next-level flours respond to hydration and fermentation to make great bread even better.

Bread Book showcases Robertson's and Latham's unparalleled knowledge and latest contribution to the craft and science of bread making. Experienced bakers and novices will find their primers on grain, flour, sourdough starter, leaven, and dough formulas refreshingly easy to understand and use. Sixteen singular master formulas for naturally leavened doughs -- from the reengineered country bread to rustic baguettes, flatbread, rolls, buns, tortillas, pizza, rye, gluten-free loaves, and more, plus fermented pasta doughs that use discarded sourdough starter -- make Bread Book the most innovative and complete manual for baking with wild yeast cultures. More than 150 stylish step-by-step and recipe photographs illustrate the master recipes and the forty-five spin-offs.

Robertson's and Latham's Bread Book is every bread baker's new north star.

About the Authors:

Chad Robertson is the cofounder of Tartine, now with six locations in Northern and Southern California and Seoul, South Korea. His foundational book, Tartine Bread, became the manual for home bread bakers who aspired to recreate his world-famous rustic country loaves and established him as the premier American bread baker. Robertson is also the coauthor of Tartine, written with Elisabeth Prueitt, and the author of Tartine Book No. 3. The recipient of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef, Robertson has appeared in a wide range of publications, from the New York Times to Vogue.

Jennifer Latham is Tartine's director of bread and manages the bread-making teams in Northern and Southern California, collaborating with Robertson on innovations and techniques. She and Robertson cowrote and recorded the audiobook Getting Started with Sourdough.

Liz Barclay is a photographer, creative director, and visual artist with a passion for food, music, art, and culture. Her clients range from the New York Times, Vogue, and the New Yorker to Nowness, Nike, Capitol Music, and Apple. Barclay is also an ambassador and volunteer with Coach Art, Food Bank New York, and Edible School Yard.