Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Algonquin Books (2010), Edition: First Edition, 352 pages
Description
Cooking & Food. Nonfiction. HTML: William Alexander is determined to bake the perfect loaf of bread. He tasted it long ago, in a restaurant, and has been trying to reproduce it ever since. Without success. Now, on the theory that practice makes perfect, he sets out to bake peasant bread every week until he gets it right. He bakes his loaf from scratch. And because Alexander is nothing if not thorough, he really means from scratch: growing, harvesting, winnowing, threshing, and milling his own wheat. An original take on the six-thousand-year-old staple of life, 52 Loaves explores the nature of obsession, the meditative quality of ritual, the futility of trying to re-create something perfect, our deep connection to the earth, and the mysterious instinct that makes all of us respond to the aroma of baking bread..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member jeanie1
Decent book about the authors obsession of baking a loaf of bread that mimics one he had years ago. As a bread baker I understood his issues. Occassionally he made me laugh out loud. I was looking forward to creating a loaf of bread from his recipe, but it was too complicated!!
LibraryThing member amanderson
Phew, finally got through this. I skim read parts. I know lots more about bread baking technique now as well as how to build a mud oven, the relationship between bread & corn & pellagra in the south in the early part of the 20th century, and the unexpected ways staying in a monastery can affect
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you. But I conclude that the author is rather obsessive compulsive and a little bit too crazy for my reading taste though he does seem like he might be charming in person. The effort he took in baking a loaf a week and trying many different techniques, traveling and taking bread baking classes, breaking two ovens and growing his own wheat then milling it himself with an old Indian millstone. . . seemed an overly belabored conceit for a book to me. Or an over the top obsession. Show Less
LibraryThing member prps
Really funny depiction of a man in chase of his perfect bread recipe. Kinda reminds me of my pursuits as an amateur baker.
LibraryThing member Jaydot
The author describes his year-long quest for the perfect artisan bread - and as a home baker I recognise every step of the way (and it has me laughing out loud repeatedly). As he bakes a bread a week, he also researches many aspects of bread baking and the book is full of fascinating background
I love this book!
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information.I love this book!
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LibraryThing member njmom3
This book is less about the art of bread making and more a book about an obsessions. The bread making is the context for the author's journey of self discovery. I was more interested in the bread than his self-actualization. So, I was disappointed in this book because it not what I was expecting.
LibraryThing member NellieMc
I loved this book - so much so, that I went out and bought The $64 tomato. Obsessive, compulsive, driven, but also reflective, thoughtful, and intelligent - Alexander comes through as a very complex person. I certainly wouldn't want to marry him, but I'll read anything he writes.
LibraryThing member satyridae
Alexander's memoir about baking bread left me cold. I didn't connect with him on any meaningful level. I'm a baker- a dilettante to be sure- but I never felt the sort of connection with the dough I was looking for here. It took him almost 125 pages to even get around to kneading the dough by hand,
The structure was awkward, I thought, and didn't even begin to make sense till he took up residency in the monastery at the end of the book. Simply didn't work for me on any level.
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fercryinoutloud. For me, that's the beauty part.The structure was awkward, I thought, and didn't even begin to make sense till he took up residency in the monastery at the end of the book. Simply didn't work for me on any level.
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LibraryThing member dms02
Really enjoyable - I love this authors writing style...it works well for me!
LibraryThing member cmoewes
This book was fantastic. I didn't know what to expect when I first started reading it, but as the story went on I enjoyed it more and more.
LibraryThing member lkarr
His attempt to make the "perfect" bread was amusing; sometimes even laugh out loud funny. I can't wait to try the levain.
LibraryThing member pnorman4345
Our author bakes a loaf of peasant bread every week for a year. along the way he learns the chemistry of flour, the biology of yeast and the ways ofa moastery in France. It was the monastery where Patrick Leigh Fremour use to stay! Quite good.
LibraryThing member mattparfitt
I enjoyed this book a lot, perhaps partly because I'm a little bread-obsessed right now, but also because it's entertaining and amusing. It's a little formulaic and predictable, perhaps, but I did learn a thing or two from it. It's well-crafted and witty.
LibraryThing member terran
I was first attracted to this book by its title. The idea that a man wants to grow his own wheat, harvest it, grind flour and do everything he can to reproduce an artisanal loaf of bread is intriguing to say the least. As a librarian, I must admit that I was more than a tad put off by the idea that
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he would begin a backyard wheat field without an ounce of research. He didn't know if he was planting the right kind of wheat for the region in which lived, if it was the right kind for the bread he wanted to make...Really? Hello? Call your local library. Finally on page 41 Mr. Alexander "hopped on to the Internet" and did a LOT of research. Many interesting side trips discuss events such as the pellagra epidemic of the early 1900s which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths until dietary experiments determined that dried yeast could prevent the disease. Show Less
LibraryThing member RealLifeReading
(adapted from my blog post at Olduvai Reads)
William Alexander is a man who goes all out.
He is intent on perfecting perfect bread. And just one type of bread. Peasant bread or pain de campagne.
And that’s one loaf of bread baked each week for a year. Equals… Yes you got that right, 52 Loaves.
More on the monastery later.
As with most decent non-fiction reads, Alexander goes in search of the experts. The commercial yeast maker, the bread baker, millers and owners of professional ovens. All while making his own bread. And growing his own wheat. Yeah this is man who doesn’t like shortcuts. He even grinds his own home-grown wheat, with what is probably an old Indian grindstone! Can you beat that???
“I continued grinding, playing with the motion, moving from a back-and-forth action to a tight circular one, humming a mock Indian song – that is, I’m sorry to say, the Atlanta Braves war chant.”
He disdains the popular no-knead bread which I think isn’t quite the right reaction. Sure it’s a bit tasteless (add more salt) but it got people baking bread. Like me! Before attempting the no-knead bread, I had given bread-making a try but it’s just way too hot in Singapore to knead and I just didn’t want to do more.
But after successfully making the no-knead bread – and then getting a Kitchenaid mixer with that very useful dough hook – made me want to give other breads, kneaded or not, a try. So the no-knead bread isn’t to be pooh-poohed at. It is a great way to get started with doughs and yeasts and all that. Just, you know, add more salt than the recipe calls for.
Anyway, this book ought to come with a warning sticker: Will make you hungry for bread.
Because I was. And you it led me to bake up a couple of loaves (and some cookies).
And my kitchen – and most of the house – smelled oh so good…..!
Just thinking of those wonderful smells and that delicious crusty bread (sadly, long gone) makes me want to eat bake some bread.
I’ve sidetracked long enough!
52 Loaves was at times amusing (in that self-deprecating way) and I have to put it to Alexander to giving breadmaking such utter devotion. But the problem with a book that details 52 weeks is that not every week makes for good reading – at one point he decided to sleep in a separate room from his wife (I’m sure plenty of couples sleep in separate beds, I just didn’t need to know the details). As a result the book is a little uneven.
The time he spends in France though are the highlight. He somehow weasels his way as a guest at a monastery in Normandy (told you I’d get back to the monastery bit) where he finds himself having to train an apprentice baker (when he’s still more or less an apprentice himself), and meticulously planning a baking schedule around their services!
William Alexander is a man who goes all out.
He is intent on perfecting perfect bread. And just one type of bread. Peasant bread or pain de campagne.
And that’s one loaf of bread baked each week for a year. Equals… Yes you got that right, 52 Loaves.
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Well technically more than that as there are plenty of loaves baked during a baking course he takes in Paris and plenty more in a monastery.More on the monastery later.
As with most decent non-fiction reads, Alexander goes in search of the experts. The commercial yeast maker, the bread baker, millers and owners of professional ovens. All while making his own bread. And growing his own wheat. Yeah this is man who doesn’t like shortcuts. He even grinds his own home-grown wheat, with what is probably an old Indian grindstone! Can you beat that???
“I continued grinding, playing with the motion, moving from a back-and-forth action to a tight circular one, humming a mock Indian song – that is, I’m sorry to say, the Atlanta Braves war chant.”
He disdains the popular no-knead bread which I think isn’t quite the right reaction. Sure it’s a bit tasteless (add more salt) but it got people baking bread. Like me! Before attempting the no-knead bread, I had given bread-making a try but it’s just way too hot in Singapore to knead and I just didn’t want to do more.
But after successfully making the no-knead bread – and then getting a Kitchenaid mixer with that very useful dough hook – made me want to give other breads, kneaded or not, a try. So the no-knead bread isn’t to be pooh-poohed at. It is a great way to get started with doughs and yeasts and all that. Just, you know, add more salt than the recipe calls for.
Anyway, this book ought to come with a warning sticker: Will make you hungry for bread.
Because I was. And you it led me to bake up a couple of loaves (and some cookies).
And my kitchen – and most of the house – smelled oh so good…..!
Just thinking of those wonderful smells and that delicious crusty bread (sadly, long gone) makes me want to eat bake some bread.
I’ve sidetracked long enough!
52 Loaves was at times amusing (in that self-deprecating way) and I have to put it to Alexander to giving breadmaking such utter devotion. But the problem with a book that details 52 weeks is that not every week makes for good reading – at one point he decided to sleep in a separate room from his wife (I’m sure plenty of couples sleep in separate beds, I just didn’t need to know the details). As a result the book is a little uneven.
The time he spends in France though are the highlight. He somehow weasels his way as a guest at a monastery in Normandy (told you I’d get back to the monastery bit) where he finds himself having to train an apprentice baker (when he’s still more or less an apprentice himself), and meticulously planning a baking schedule around their services!
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LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
I just loved this book full of fun, adventure, knowledge, and - dare I say - spiritual enlightenment. Alexander has a penchant for digging deep and he spares no effort from growing his own wheat to travelling abroad for the perfect loaf. His determination is striking and his sense of humour is
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communicative. The last chapters are nothing less than amazing as he encounters characters as mesmerizing as the author's awakening in a French monastery that he will change forever. It makes one believe in miracles. Show Less
LibraryThing member ichadwick
One man's journey to create the perfect loaf. Not a recipe book but rather an expression of passion for baking.
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
352 p.; 5.88 inches
ISBN
1565125835 / 9781565125834