Knead to Know: A History of Baking

by Neil Buttery

In Knead to Know: A History of Baking, food historian and chef Neil Buttery takes the reader on a journey exploring the creation, evolution and cultural importance of some of our most beloved baked foods, whether they be fit for a monarch's table, or served from the bakestone of a lowly farm labourer. This book charts innovations, happy accidents and some of the most downright bizarre baked foods ever created.

Everything has a history, but food history is special because it tells us so much about our culture and society, from the role of bread in the birth of human civilisation to the invention of the wedding cake, the creation of the whisk, or the purpose of the fish heads in a star-gazy pie. Food history encompasses it all.

When we think of the evolution of something, we think every step is an improvement, an incremental elevation toward some peak of perfection. This is not always the case. Sometimes things have to become simpler, knowledge is lost and skills are forgotten. As a baker of historical foods, Neil Buttery demonstrates that forgotten recipes and traditional techniques are often worth trying out (and mentions a few that should perhaps be left in the past).

The reader will be inspired by the characters, creations and inventions of the past to be better and more adventurous bakers.

Genres: Food and Drink

256 pages, Hardcover

Published September 12, 2024

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) Not only the pun-tastic title, but also the excellent nominative determinism of chef and food historian Dr Neil Buttery’s name, earned this a place in my 2024 Superlatives post. In not quite 240 pages, it achieves the improbable, producing an exhaustive history of baked goods through miniature essays about every conceivable subcategory. Although the focus is on British baking, the story begins in ancient times with the first grains and the earliest cooking technique of making griddlecakes on a hearthstone. (Speaking of which, make sure you’re prepared for Pancake Day, aka Shrove Tuesday, this week!) Across multi-part chapters about bread, biscuits and cakes, pies and puddings, and patisserie, Buttery spotlights regional specialties, many of them familiar (Cornish pasties and Eccles cakes); a few have fallen into obscurity (Gloucester pancakes and Yorkshire Christmas pyes). Some dishes’ origin stories are apocryphal, while others can be traced back to historical cookbooks.

I was fascinated by the evolution of traditional holiday bakes. “The long tapering shape of the stollen is supposed to represent the infant Christ wrapped in His swaddling.” In general, there is just the right amount of chemistry, and while in places the writing is shaky or at least poorly edited (“populous” instead of populace!), there are good quips, too: “dried fruit haters do have a miserable time at Christmas to be fair.” I read the book in bites across a number of months, which felt appropriate because it’s more a reference text for the kitchen shelf than a narrative to read straight through. Good for picking up now and then over a cup of tea.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Violet · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have always wanted to know why there's VAT on biscuits only if they are covered in chocolate, or the difference between puff pastry and rough puff pastry, or how yeast was originally made, or why a pudding is called a pudding, this is the book for you. I love these kinds of niche history books and this was a quick and pleasant read, although I enjoyed the history more than the science bits.

And isn't it marvellous that a man called Buttery got into pastry? Talk about nominative determinism!

Free ARC sent by Netgalley.

[CPE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just to manage your expectations, Neil Buttery’s Knead to Know: A History of Baking is NOT a recipe book. It’s a book about baking and – as the subtitle suggests – the history of baking. As I’m interested in history and a bit of a nerd, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The author explains gluten and some other technical aspects of baking (e.g. “egg whites are high in albumen: long thin proteins that form webs to trap air pockets if agitated with a whisk”), but the explanations are easy to understand and really helped me understand what’s happening inside the oven. Cakes maintain their shape by “setting and cooking a batter of starch, gluten and egg protein around countless bubbles of gas.”

Mr Buttery (yes, he does have an appropriate name, doesn’t he?!) is honest about the difficulty of making some items successfully, confessing that his success rate with genoise sponge is about 75%. After stating that hand-whisked meringues are allegedly superior to ones created using an electric mixer, Buttery happily admits he once tried using a hand-whisk and then went out and bought a mixer, stating “I don’t mind slightly inferior meringues.”

If you’re interested in baking and how cakes, breads and biscuits “work” – both at the mixing stage and in the oven, this is the book for you.

#KneadtoKnow #NetGalley

[Sekar Writes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knead to Know offers an insightful exploration of baking. The book covers a wide range of topics, from the history and cultural significance of baking to the scientific principles behind it. The explanations are clear and straightforward, making complex concepts accessible to readers.

The book seems to walk a fine line between addressing beginners and more experienced bakers, which could be a bit challenging for some readers. As a beginner myself, I found it difficult at times to visualize the baked goods without any accompanying pictures. I often had to look up images online to understand what the baked goods looked like and how they differed from similar items discussed in the book. On the other hand, more experienced bakers might find that they are already familiar with some of the content.

If you're interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the broader aspects of baking, this book provides a lot of valuable insights. Just be prepared to do a bit of extra research to fully grasp some of the descriptions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Icon Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loved it! i adore learning history through food. it was clear, light and fun to read. would recommend to any foody out there ;)

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and detailed history and science of baking.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's very well written, it may be a bit much/dry for someone to read in one go, and probably wouldn't be great for someone who knows nothing about baking, or someone who knows everything about baking 🤔