Uncle John's Original Bread Book

by John Rahn Braué

From back cover: The Delicious Art of Baking Bread

If you want Irish oatmeal bread, Italian bread sticks, French or Alsatian sourdough bread, Jewish honey cakes, Swedish limpa, German buttermilk rye or the more exotic German farmer's herb - parmesan bread, you'll find it all here and much, much more!

JOHN BRAUE has lovingly put together a collection of priceless recipes which have been handed down family to family, baker to baker, friend to friend, for generations.

But this book is more than just a great collection of recipes.

It is also an entertaining primer of fascinating bread lore such as the different properties of flours, the vast differeces in recipe results due to climate, altitude, and ovens and the little known techniques of baking perfection.

Tucked between the recipes are dozens of wise hints on the good life, good baking, good humor, and good eating.

UNCLE JOHN'S ORIGINAL BREAD BOOK is unique, refreshing, invaluable addition to every housewife's kitchen shelf.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

198 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1969

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book after attending a workshop on making 19th century yeast breads. This book contains lots of 19th century recipes (receipts as they were traditionally called) . It seems to have a lots of recipes of German origin. In our class we used the recipe for making the yeast starter and one of the recipes. Can't wait to try the rest out my museum's bread oven this summer.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note to self: Don't treat a cookbook like any other novel. It's not a light read and better used as a reference.
On another note, I do really want to try some of these recipes. This book was given to me by my grandfather, and was used by my grandmother. My dad has gone on and on about her breads and pastries and she's left some notes on certain recipes, so I am really excited to test them out.

[Aloves2travel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book after attending a class on making 19th century yeast starters. This has a lot of recipes (receipts as they were traditionally called). The one recipe we used was tasty and I'm sure I'll use many recipes when I interpret at the museum's bread oven.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Take 2 heaping cups of patience, 1 heartful of love, 2 handfuls of generosity, a dash of laughter, 1 headful of understanding. Sprinkle generously with kindness, add plenty of faith, and mix well; spread over a period of a lifetime and serve everybody you meet!”

A book filled with bread history; appropriate and a tad confusing sprinkling of quotes, and some yummy recipes handed down from Father to Son, and from Mother to Daughter … at times dated, but can still apply to today. A cookbook with a story, as well as recipes.

[Susan Rainwater · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first cookbook I ever owned, purchased in a little health food store. Baking was a cheap hobby, and for a year or so, I baked my way through this book. I was never brave enough to try Uncle John's recipe for wildcrafting yeast (he was 40 years ahead of Michael Pollan). The book is probably long out of print, but is still available used.