Flour Water Salt Yeast

June 4, 2012
Owner of Ken’s Artisan Pizza and Ken’s Artisan Bakery in Portland, Ore., Forkish begins by telling of the trials and tribulations of opening up shop (people didn’t want to pay $2.50 for a cup of herbal tea). Divided into four sections (“The Principles of Artisan Bread,” “Basic Bread Recipes,” “Levain Bread Recipes,” and “Pizza Recipes”), with recipes broken down by breads made with store-bought yeast, breads made with long-fermented simple doughs, and doughs made with pre-ferments, the book presents recipes accessible to novices, while providing a different approach for making dough to experienced bakers. Plenty of step-by-step photographs, along with a chapter outlining “Great Details for Bread and Pizza,” make this slim work a rival to any bread-baking tome. A variety of pizza recipes, including sweet potato and pear pizza and golden beets and duck breast “prosciutto” pizza, (along with an Oregon hazelnut butter cookie recipe), end the title and inspire readers to put on the apron and get out the flour.

August 1, 2012

Forkish--chef and owner of Ken's Artisan Bread and Ken's Artisan Pizza in Portland, OR--is passionate about baking; he's still nurturing a levain he started in 1999. His first book is exceptionally detailed and clearly written with dedicated bakers in mind. Home cooks who intend to make a quick loaf of bread once every six months may enjoy some of the recipes, but to treat this title like a multipurpose cookbook to be used on occasion is like taking a class from da Vinci but only using paint-by-number sets. That said, Forkish is aware of the limitations home cooks will face and is careful to address concerns about temperature, schedules, ingredients, and more. In addition to history, methods, and tips, Forkish provides several unique recipes, including Pain Au Bacon, Walnut Levain, Sweet Potato and Pear Pizza, and Zucchini Focaccia. VERDICT There's a reason for the phrase "daily bread"--making bread from scratch was a way of life for centuries. Cooks and students who are serious about the craft of bread baking will definitely want to check out this title.--Rosemarie Lewis, Georgetown Cty. Lib., SC

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2012
No matter how it's sliced, baking bread is, well, hard. It requires lots of equipment, patience, and precise measurements. Portland, Oregon, baker-restaurateur and James Beard Award finalist Forkish does his absolute best to take us step-by-step through this mixture of art, science, and luck. Give him kudos for explaining the eight details to master for the best outcomes: think of time and temperature as ingredients; use pre-ferments when time allows; use the autolyse method; mix a wet slack dough; allow for complete bulk fermentation; handle dough gently; proof perfectly to point; and bake until dark brown. And more kudos for insisting on instructional-process photographs throughout to guide us and for peppering the pages with clear definitions of such bread-ology terms as miche, levain, retarder, and poolish, to specify just a few. He generously shares more than 30 recipes, and he embeds fun in the mix, such as his description of his transition from Silicon Valley. Difficult to master? For sure. But motivational as well.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)