Product Description

Andrew Whitley, organic baker and founder of The Village Bakery, reveals the deplorable state into which modern supermarket bread has fallen, and the secrets behind making good, nutritious bread at home. All is not well in British baking. Commercial bread is laced with additives to make it look good and stay soft. It uses varieties of wheat that have been bred for high yield and baking performance with little concern for human nutrition. To rush it through the bakery at the lowest possible cost, it's dosed with four times as much yeast as before. Described as 'fresh' when it may have been frozen and re-heated, it's sold as a loss-leader at knock-down prices which undermine what little respect it may once have commanded. Even before the Atkins diet frightened people off, there was evidence of a massive growth of intolerance -- to gluten, wheat and yeast in particular. Call it coincidence. Dismiss it as hypochondria if you will. But things have come to a pretty pass when people avoid their staple food -- the staff of life -- in droves. 'Bread Matters' offers a solution.Revealing the madness behind this modern adulteration of our most basic food as only an insider can, organic baker Andrew Whitley, founder of The Village Bakery in Melmerby, shows why and how to make real bread at home. Unlike many bread book authors, he has baked for a living for over 25 years. His recipes are fool-proof because he explains what's really going on, demystifying the science, sharing a practical baker's craft. Using the skills he deploys on his popular courses, he guides and inspires beginners and seasoned bakers alike. And he brings good news to those who have had to abandon bread because of dietary sensitivity, showing how to bake tasty and nutritious food without yeast, wheat or gluten.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6950 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'What an important book; passionate and polemical and full of truth. The chapter too on gluten-free baking is original and inspiring.'Bee Wilson, Sunday Telegraph and New Statesman 'This will be the most important book on baking since the publication of Elizabeth David's "English Bread and Yeast Cookery".' Rose Prince 'Makes for interesting reading, and Whitley makes the information accessible by using easy-to-follow tables where appropriate!Throughout the book Whitley has dotted interesting historical footnotes to recipes and practical tips to recover from baking disasters. The book is comprehensive in its span of recipes and its examination of the baking process.' Caterer and Hotelkeeper 'A superb and necessary new book.' Bee Wilson, The Sunday Telegraph 'Every bit as feisty as the title implies!a good sense book that includes recipes for sour-dough and gluten-free baking.' The Independent 'The best food book of the year. Part counterblast against the shocking state of British baking, part manifesto for us all to get our hands floury and do something about it. Essential reading for anyone who cares about their daily loaf.' Financial Times Pick of the Year 'Committed to the cause of getting us to eat properly, Bread Matters explains clearly what's wrong with commercial bread and how to bake your own.' Independent

About the Author
Andrew Whitley is a leading authority on organic baking and food issues. After studying Russian at Sussex and Moscow, he joined the BBC Russian Service, where he made programmes about the emerging 'environmental crisis'. He left London in 1976 to grow his own food on an organic smallholding in Cumbria, and went on to found The Village Bakery, which has won a string of awards, culminating in the Organic Trophy. Andrew has been an occasional contributor to the Radio 4 Food Programme and has written on bread and related matters for specialist journals. He is chair of the Soil Association's Processing Standards Committee and a trustee of Voluntary Action Cumbria, the local Rural Community Council in Cumbria.

Customer Reviews

Wow!
Read this and you will NEVER eat shop bought white bread again. Perhaps more importantly, you will understand why you will not eat shop bought white bread again. Get cracking on making REAL bread. To not purchase this book is to endanger your health

Bread Really Does Matter!
The author would do well to advise making a loaf before starting to read this book - all the better to sustain the reader while working through it. It is a weighty read, but absorbing and informative. The discovery that bread making includes fermentation was a surprise, so settle down with your favourite tipple! My wife and I have greatly enjoyed reading it.

Much of the book is about how bread and flour have developed and just exactly what goes into the modern mass-produced loaf, which is a real eye opener, before guiding the reader through making bread by hand, using the simplest ingredients. The distinction between these two aspects of the book (the Why and How) is somewhat blurred and I would prefer that they were more clearly segregated. Deciding on our approach has required dotting about through the book, so we can prepare ourselves for following the otherwise excellent guidance within.

Written in a very readable style, but with great passion and authority, it is difficult to imagine how such a thick book could deal with so apparently simple a topic, but the deceit of government and industry is breath taking, where our daily bread is concerned! Read it for this aspect alone.

I have only occasionally made bread by hand, however am on my second bread machine, having used one regularly for over a decade. After reading this book my wife and I are on the threshold of making bread from first principles, using flour and water alone, with a pinch of salt. A very informative and life changing read...

Whay I can eat French Bread and Not English Bread
Thankyou Andrew Whitley!!! After many years of avoiding bread at all costs I have read this book and now understand why I can eat French bread ( and now of course my own) and not English bread. I have no more digestive difficulties ... and am enjoying my own sourdough .. it's delicious. The author runs courses and was delightfull in advising me on the phone... thankyou. I have since reading this book purchased 2 more for my mother and my best friend... HIGH praise indeeed!