Tartine Bread Cookbook Review

Bread Making the Tartine Way

Many of you have been asking us for more reviews about bread cookbooks, so this week we decided to bring you the Tartine Bread review. Although this is not a new cookbook it is considered a bread bible for the home barker or professional bread-maker, so we had to bring it to you.

Tartine Bread comes from Chad Robertson, a man many consider to be the best bread baker in the United States, and co-owner with Elizabeth Prueitt of San Francisco’s Tartine Bakery. Only a handful of bakers have learned the bread science techniques Chad Robertson has developed. Now it’s your time to learn these techniques and to start making bread with your own hands. Clear instructions and hundreds of step-by-step photos will put you on track to make exceptional and elemental bread using just flour, water, and salt.

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The Foundation of a Meal

To Robertson, bread is the foundation of a meal, the center of daily life. For him, each loaf is unique and tells the story of the baker who shaped it.

Robertson developed his unique bread over two decades of apprenticeship with the finest artisan bakers in France and in the United States, as well as experimentation in his own ovens. Although having developed his techniques in professional bakeries, this book was designed to be used in any home kitchen. The recipes in Tartine Bread were developed with a team of home bakers so you know that it can translate to home ovens.

Having the ability to replicate the bread you find on Tartine Bakery, in your own kitchen is one of the best things about this book. To make most of the breads in it you’ll only need your hands, nothing of fancy equipment! In fact, there is only one bread (brioche) that requires an electric mixer. The only things you’ll need are a digital thermometer, a rubber spatula, a dough spatula, and a bench knife.

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Precision is Key

If there is one thing that will learn in this book is that precision is key to make good bread. All the recipes in this book demand exact measures and there is no sense of improvisation. The techniques exhibited in the book are exceptional, and very well photographed. Not merely decorative these photographs are deliberately done to be instructional on the kneading, folding stretching and proofing that goes into baking bread.

The first instructional chapter of this book “Basic Country Bread” is the building block of the book. This is a very simple but extremely precise chapter. Here you will learn the basics such as making the leaven, mixing, kneading, and shaping the dough. All these different steps are accompanied by important photos and provide an example of what you should be seeing in the process. This chapter will also introduce you to baker’s percentage, which is the way that professional bakers developed their recipes.

Tartine Bread has a very extended list of recipes, including Pizza Dough, Semolina and Whole-wheat Breads, English muffins, Brioche and Croissants. Despite having all these different recipes, we only encourage you to start trying these recipes after you master the “Basic Country Bread”. Last but not least, this book has a chapter called “Days-old Bread” that includes 30 recipes which explore the many ways to use the bread, from sandwiches and salads to bruschettas and many bread-based desserts.

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At the End of Tartine Bread Review

Tartine Bread is a fantastic cookbook for the passionate about bread baking. This book not only meets that passion but inspires it to go even further. Although this book is clearly for bread baker enthusiasts, we really believe that it is also great for beginners. Thanks to its extremely detailed recipes even a beginner can take it on with no fear of missing anything.

So, if you want to take your bread to the next level or if you are just starting your journey, we guarantee you that you will like to have this book with you. And don’t forget to remember that bread, like anything done well, will always take time to master.