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The Village Baker: Classic Regional Breads from Europe and America
Provides more than fifty bread recipes gathered from village bakers in France, Italy, Germany, and regional America, including both traditional breads and healthful contemporary variations
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1993
About the author
Joe Ortiz
6 booksJoe Ortiz is the author of The Village Baker (1993), and co-author of The Village Baker’s Wife (1997), and The Gardener’s Table (2000), all published by Ten Speed/Penguin.
His monthly columns on creativity in the Capitola Soquel Times and Aptos Times are the culmination of five decades of his experiences as an author, playwright, artist, and musician.
As a composer and lyricist, Ortiz has written and produced five musicals, among them Over the Roof (formerly Escaping Queens), which uses the incidents in Pastina as basis for the story.
Escaping Queens enjoyed its World Premiere at Cabrillo Stage (Aptos, California) in 2012.
Ortiz is co-owner and co-founder of Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria in Capitola. The business has grown, in its 48 years of community service, from a small, neighborhood shop to a full-service food emporium that serves more than 75,000 customers a month.
His monthly columns on creativity in the Capitola Soquel Times and Aptos Times are the culmination of five decades of his experiences as an author, playwright, artist, and musician.
As a composer and lyricist, Ortiz has written and produced five musicals, among them Over the Roof (formerly Escaping Queens), which uses the incidents in Pastina as basis for the story.
Escaping Queens enjoyed its World Premiere at Cabrillo Stage (Aptos, California) in 2012.
Ortiz is co-owner and co-founder of Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria in Capitola. The business has grown, in its 48 years of community service, from a small, neighborhood shop to a full-service food emporium that serves more than 75,000 customers a month.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 3, 2007
Without much of a doubt, this is my favorite cook book. It turned me on to the world of bread as art. Not just art, but bread that is more than something that holds the sandwich together, a breadmaking process that is almost spiritual. Not just spiritual but essential, hearty, ancestral. Not just essential but fun and manual and a bit difficult. Satisfying and delicious and sometimes frustrating.
Beautifully illustrated with photos of breads and bakeries from around the world and helpful process diagrams.
Beautifully illustrated with photos of breads and bakeries from around the world and helpful process diagrams.
October 11, 2019
One of the best sourdough books I´ve read! :) Cultural and fun too!
April 18, 2023
Review posted on my blog, Life as Katherine. https://lifeaskatherine.blogspot.com/
The Village Baker is the book I affectionately refer to as my "Bread Bible." I checked this book out at the library in 2009 and tested out a recipe for French bread. I immediately called my mom and informed her that she was getting this book for me for Christmas. I renewed the book as many times as I could (which was a miraculous 5 renewals of 2 weeks each, giving me an amazing 3 months with the book) and spent an additional three months waiting for the book as a gift.
I had been baking bread for several years before finding this book, but as I read it I found I knew next to nothing about baking bread. The author and his wife own a small neighborhood bakery in California. They spend time traveling around Europe to speak to village bakers, and learn new techniques and recipes.
The beginning of the book is over 50 pages of tips and techniques. He includes the function of different ingredients, including the pros and cons of additives like milk and sugar; techniques on kneading, stirring (properly stirring the dough can make an okay loaf into an amazing one), and how to properly shape a loaf; history of bread baking; and details on the five different ways to bake bread, straight yeast or one of four types of starters, and how each developed.
There are 60 recipes for regional breads from France, Italy, and Germany, as well as some specialties from bakers in the United States. He includes special notes on each recipe that may include a fun fact, a touch of history, a tip or trick, or some other interesting piece of information.
I have lately been exploring the use of different kinds of starters, and he includes enough information that I don't feel lost as I try something new.
This is the best cookbook I have ever read, and I will treasure this book. It has been invaluable and filled many delightful hours with a craft I love so much.
The Village Baker is the book I affectionately refer to as my "Bread Bible." I checked this book out at the library in 2009 and tested out a recipe for French bread. I immediately called my mom and informed her that she was getting this book for me for Christmas. I renewed the book as many times as I could (which was a miraculous 5 renewals of 2 weeks each, giving me an amazing 3 months with the book) and spent an additional three months waiting for the book as a gift.
I had been baking bread for several years before finding this book, but as I read it I found I knew next to nothing about baking bread. The author and his wife own a small neighborhood bakery in California. They spend time traveling around Europe to speak to village bakers, and learn new techniques and recipes.
The beginning of the book is over 50 pages of tips and techniques. He includes the function of different ingredients, including the pros and cons of additives like milk and sugar; techniques on kneading, stirring (properly stirring the dough can make an okay loaf into an amazing one), and how to properly shape a loaf; history of bread baking; and details on the five different ways to bake bread, straight yeast or one of four types of starters, and how each developed.
There are 60 recipes for regional breads from France, Italy, and Germany, as well as some specialties from bakers in the United States. He includes special notes on each recipe that may include a fun fact, a touch of history, a tip or trick, or some other interesting piece of information.
I have lately been exploring the use of different kinds of starters, and he includes enough information that I don't feel lost as I try something new.
This is the best cookbook I have ever read, and I will treasure this book. It has been invaluable and filled many delightful hours with a craft I love so much.
October 22, 2025
Most of the bread books today are the same technique with different photos. Everything is weighed precisely; the starter is 100% hydration; the gluten development is through stretch and fold. I'm not sure how we got to a place where we forgot about the myriad other ways that bread has been baked throughout history, but The Village Baker is here to remind us! Here are a variety of starters, often used for flavor and enhanced with yeast for lift. The most intruiging technique I learned is adding all of the water to some of the flour and beating with a wooden spoon for ten minutes to develop gluten, then kneading in the rest of the flour.
I appreciate that the recipes are by volume instead of weight, which I think encourages a false sense of precision in an activity that varies with the humidity and temperature of the day, and with the characteristics of the flour. Sure, if you're making bakery quantities, weight prevents small variations in measurement from accumulating, but for home bakers, volume is just fine.
I struggled a bit with the rye breads, which were extremely wet, since Ortiz didn't really have much advice for dealing with that. At first I thought my measurements were off since they were by volume instead of weight, but the back of the book has the full-size bakery recipes by weight, and the ratios I got from volume measurements were correct. I think I just don't yet have the skills for super-wet rye doughs.
All of the breads turned out tasty, though. Unfortunately this was written in the days before access to more nutritious flours, so the recipes are all based on all-purpose flour, and there is no discussion of the stoneground flours I assume many of the French bakers were using. I substituted my own bolted flour, and the recipes worked but I wondered whether Ortiz had done anything to adapt the recipes for American all-purpose flour, which tends to have higher gluten than French flours. I wish he had discussed this.
I appreciate that the recipes are by volume instead of weight, which I think encourages a false sense of precision in an activity that varies with the humidity and temperature of the day, and with the characteristics of the flour. Sure, if you're making bakery quantities, weight prevents small variations in measurement from accumulating, but for home bakers, volume is just fine.
I struggled a bit with the rye breads, which were extremely wet, since Ortiz didn't really have much advice for dealing with that. At first I thought my measurements were off since they were by volume instead of weight, but the back of the book has the full-size bakery recipes by weight, and the ratios I got from volume measurements were correct. I think I just don't yet have the skills for super-wet rye doughs.
All of the breads turned out tasty, though. Unfortunately this was written in the days before access to more nutritious flours, so the recipes are all based on all-purpose flour, and there is no discussion of the stoneground flours I assume many of the French bakers were using. I substituted my own bolted flour, and the recipes worked but I wondered whether Ortiz had done anything to adapt the recipes for American all-purpose flour, which tends to have higher gluten than French flours. I wish he had discussed this.
August 5, 2018
The book can be used as a textbook for purposes of understand and of creating breads. It is a wonderful resource.
February 2, 2020
one of the best bread book. a real classic!
May 3, 2022
Amazing book for anyone that loves bread and wants to know the science behind it
August 2, 2008
I took a class from this chef years ago and I haven't stop yet. If your in need of a pizza dough recipe check this one out. I've used to make hundreds of pizzas. This gets a Brett's Food Choice Award..
September 1, 2008
I live very close to his bakery, Gayle's, and they catered my wedding, (excellent), I don't use this book because a lot of the recipes you need to think of a day or two before you want to make them. When I want to make bread I turn to Beth Hensperger instead.
December 6, 2013
This book gave 3 methods of mixing bread dough: the sourdough method, the sponge method and the direct method. It also provided many different starters. Then it gave recipes for the breads of France, Italy, Germany and the United States. I would try a few.
May 3, 2008
Like the Bread Bakers Apprentice, this should be on your shelf if your serious about bread.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews