The Basics: A Really Useful Cook Book eBook

Bakers’ secrets for making amazing long-rise loaves at home.

Making bread is an ancient craft; kneading the dough to lovingly produce a loaf is a fulfilling experience. But in the modern kitchen, one important ingredient is often left out of bread making: time. The experienced bakers from the Real Bread Campaign will tell you that long and slow is far more satisfying than a quick finish. A long-proved loaf has more time to develop flavour, has a better texture and, in the case of genuine sourdough, might actually have health benefits. In Slow Dough: Real Bread learn secrets from the experts to make a huge array of slow-rise breads at home.
Whether you want to make a Fig and Fennel Sourdough, a Fougasse flatbread or a Christmas Bread, in these recipes you’ll learn how to make different starters for different breads, as well as the fundamental processes: fermenting, kneading, first proof, last rising, and baking. In a world of mass-production and redundant additives (bread being among the worst offenders), this book, about real craftsmanship, is like a breath of fresh air.
Chris Young is Campaign Co-ordinator for The Real Bread Campaign, a charity project with a mission to promote additive-free bread. In addition to compiling this book, Chris edits the quarterly magazine True Loaf, and wrote Knead to Know, the campaign’s first book. His work has appeared in publications including Spear’s Magazine, The Real Food Cookbook and the London ethical food magazine, The Jellied Eel, which he also edits.