Tartine Bread

Takes Time, But Bakes Magic—The Sourdough Book I TrustThis book has been a total game-changer for my sourdough baking. It offers the best, clearest explanation of the sourdough process I’ve found—so approachable and detailed without being overwhelming. I pretty much only use the classic country bread recipe, and honestly, it’s so good I haven’t felt the need to try much else. It does take time and patience, but the results are 100% worth it. If you’re serious about sourdough, this is the book to have.

Being essentially lazy, I seldom write an Amazon review. It feels a lot like homework, and nobody likes homework, right? Still, I occasionally discover a book or a product that so exceeds my expectations that I feel a duty to share my good fortune with my fellow consumers. Chad Robertson's "Tartine Bread" is one of those discoveries.Robertson's book contains an important ingredient that other bread books lack: detail. For example, in her book "The Italian Baker," Carol Field provides recipes for dozens of Italian breads. I have enjoyed the book, but each recipe is more of a rough guide than a detailed road map. She uses instructions such as "Make a big round shape of it [the dough] by just folding and tucking the edges under a bit." She tries to describe the state of dough development using words like "velvety" and "moist." The book contains a few line drawings but no photographs. By contrast, Robertson's book contains detailed instructions together with hundreds of photographs leaving no doubt what the developing dough should look like at each stage of the process.The photographs and Robertson's autobiographical tale make "Tartine Bread" a joy to read. Most important, the bread I've produced following Robertson's instructions has been wonderful: a cracklin' crispy crust, soft chewy crumb, faint aromas of hazelnut and chocolate (I have no idea why), and beautiful colors ranging from creamy white to almost black. I have shared this bread with just two friends so far. Both have now placed orders for the book and for the dutch oven combo that Robertson recommends.I have seen some concern that this book contains too few recipes. My advice: don't worry about it. If this book does nothing more than teach you to bake the "Basic Country Bread," it will be well worth the price.I am unsure about the propriety of criticizing a review written by another Amazon user, but I cannot resist taking E. Hanner to task for his November 10, 2010 misleading critique, "Tartine -- choose another book." Hanner finds fault in Robertson's explanation of baker's percentages, saying: "Robertson ... attempts to de-mystify bakers math so you learn to `think like a baker.' Then his representation of the recipe or formula is in my opinion very non standard and confusing." In fact, Robertson's explanation of the baker's percentage is entirely correct. (See, Harold McGee, "On Food and Cooking" (New York: Scribner, 2004), p. 527 and Michael Ruhlman, "Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking" (New York: Scribner, 2009), p. 5.) Hanner seems unhappy that the components in a baker's percentage add up to more 100%. That, however, is why it's called a "baker's percentage" and not a "mathematician's percentage." Hanner also seems to misunderstand that the flour in the leaven is included in the percentage of leaven rather than the percentage of dough flour.Finally, Hanner expresses concern for our safety, complaining that "[t]he concept of baking in a cast iron combo cooker is in my opinion, an accident waiting to happen." Even the most humble home cook handles hot pans regularly. We're not children, for crying out loud.Hanner claims that his critique is not mean spirited, but it's hard to believe anything else. Robertson has written a wonderful book that succeeds (where other bread books have failed) in providing a detailed, illustrated path to better bread building.

I am a big fan of simple sourdough sans commercial yeast and sugar. My preference began as a small child in the '60's with my beautiful grandmother Ora's sourdough rolls. She had a covered crock of it, fragrant with the lovely scent of apples, bubbling away, near her kitchen wood burning stove on a remote 400 acre cotton farm in northeastern Mississippi near Memphis. Elvis country. When the region was finally electrified, other cooks gladly ditched their wood burning stoves for electric ones. Ora (1897-1991) kept hers for breads which she cooked daily for the rest of her active life. Her electric stove sat beside her wood burner. She made the most amazingly fragrant, delicate, tender, fluffy sourdough rolls, seemingly by magic, and in no time. We ate them hot with farm butter and homemade muscadine jelly. They are still the best rolls I'd ever tasted. And guess what? None of her 8 children knows how to make these rolls. She did not make anything else with the sourdough as far as I know.Many times over many years, I tried yet another cookbook's sourdough bread recipe. I don't consider fakes--recipes with yogurt, sourdough with commercial yeast, or sourdough with cups of sugar to feed the sourdough. But not once were the writers of pure sourdough bread confident about their recipes. This was puzzling and disheartening. The best ones warned that the success rate for pure sourdough bread recipe--flour, salt, water -- was iffy. So my random success wasn't just on me. These people don't know what they are doing. Thankfully, I kept the faith.Then the Revolution in Sourdough Bread making came to me and mine when I found this book on Amazon's website in 2017. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Amazon and Chad Robertson! My husband, not a bread man, is in love with this bread. My daughter, a busy prosecutor, also makes it weekly for her fans! After reading this book and making the Country Loaf perfectly on the first try, I've entered a new era in sourdough baking. It's been 5 years since I bought this book and I'm still excited about it! My sourdough starter has aged and has a lovely rich floral/fruity/Tupelo honey scent. I most often use half King Arthur's all purpose and half Great River dark whole rye to feed it. I also use sprouted spelt flour from One Degree and Great River bread flour.The reason my sourdough now turns out perfectly is that Robertson gives his readers exhaustive instructions. Each time I get stuck or have a serious question, I sit down and re-read until I figure out my issue. He is the most chill and detailed craftsman I have ever met in print. These two qualities support his success!One of the main differences between making a commercial yeast loaf and a sourdough loaf is the style of kneading. The yeast loaf does best for me anyway with a lot of hand kneading, or more accurately kneading without any intention of ever stopping until I feel the dough slowly coming together beautifully into its not-so-sticky springy bouncy firm self. It can wear you out! I have machines that can do it but I like the hand made results better.Kneading sourdough in the same way is a big no-no. When you push down on a big ball of sourdough, you force the acculated air out of the dough and successfully flatten it, possibly for good! It may rise a bit on the second rise, but the final it may not rise much at all.Robertson's method explains everything. The photographs are beautfully artisitcic and instructive. And, wonderfully, it costs the baker way less muscle work to make sourdough breads. When your sourdough rises into a fluffy bilious mass of very soft dough, instead of kneading by pushing it away from with the heel of your hand, you delicately and deftly run your hand underneath the dough, grab it with your fingers and then pull upwards ever so gently, trying not to pop any bubbles appearing under the surface. Now, fold the dough, laying it delicately over the top. Voila! This sourdough will rise for you.For those who don't want to read and research to learn, good luck with that! I've been putting meals on the table since childhood and I couldn't have done it without investing time and effort. The rewards have been wonderful.Check out Chad Robertson on YouTube. You may be both humbled and inspired as I have been.I've given you a few tips from this Chef's book. There is so much valuable detail there that I keep mine in the kitchen. I'll leave you with this delicious teaser: Why does Chad Roberston burn his loaves?