Tartine Book No 3 Review

Tartine Book No. 3: Modern Ancient Classic Whole

After reviewing Tartine bread and Tartine: A Classic Revisited, we believe that is to time bring you Tartine Book No. 3 Review.

The third in a series of classic, collectible cookbooks from Tartine Bakery & Cafe, Tartine Book No. 3 is a revolutionary, and altogether timely, exploration of baking with whole grains.

2012 marked the 10th anniversary of Tartine Bakery & Cafe in San Francisco, and Chad Robertson found himself wondering, “Where could we take our recipes next? Could we make them taste even better while adding more nutrition?” The result of that question is Tartine Book No. 3, which chronicles his discoveries about baking with whole grains.

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Exploration of Baking with Whole Grains

In this book, Chad Robertson shares his groundbreaking new methods of bread baking including new techniques for whole-grain loaves, as well as porridge breads and loaves made with sprouted grains. The narrative of Chad Robertson's search for ancient flavors in heirloom grains is interwoven with 85 recipes for whole-grain versions of Tartine favorites.

This book is all about moving beyond breads made simply with wheat flour and exploring new ways to use whole grains, ancient grains, and the flours made from them. We’re talking grains like kamut and quinoa, teff and emmer, as well as some more familiar ones like rye and barley.

The world of hearty loaves he explores is large, and along the way, he visits iconic bakeries in Denmark, Germany and Austria, France, Mexico, and farther afield. The stories of his encounters with other dedicated bakers are some of the most enjoyable and interesting parts of the book.

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Baked Good for All Tastes

In Tartine Book No. 3 you will find several sections dedicated to specific types of bread. You'll have sections on ancient breads, such as hearth loaves with sprouted grains and denser, sprouted-grain loaves. Besides that, you also have other sections that explore porridge and cracked and flaked grain breads, or even crispbreads.

Last but not least, in the final of the book you'll find a very extensive section on pastries made with whole grains. Recipes like buckwheat-hazelnut sablés, salted chocolate rye cookies, and even peanut butter cookies are some of the delights you need to try.

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For Serious Bakers

As you may have realized Tartine No. 3 is not a typical bread cookbook with simple wheat flour recipes. Here you'll find challenging recipes with unique ingredients that were almost lost due to the industrialization of agriculture.

Although must of the ingredients are now relatively easy to find some of the recipes will be difficult to get it right for the first time. Some steps are just hard to describe in words or even show in pictures — you can really only learn them by doing them yourself. A good example of this is shaping the loaf: it seems like a relatively straightforward process from the pictures, but it may take several tries (and several recipes) until you get it right. And this isn’t Chad’s fault, making bread is a process that takes time and practice until you understand how the dough should look and feel.

Although this learning curve is normal in any bread cookbook, in this case, it may take a while until everything goes as plan. In our opinion, this happens because the steps for each recipe are not as detailed as in previous books like Tartine bread. Besides this, some instruction can be a little confusing for less experienced bakers.

At the End of Tartine Book No 3 Review

Tartine Book No. 3 is another excellent book from Chad Roberston that will delight the most experienced and serious bakers. Its advanced recipes and ingredients make it one of the most interesting bread cookbooks we've had the opportunity to review. Although this is not a book for everyone, it definitely deserves a place in the bookshelves of all bread enthusiasts.