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Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers
Recipes from the back rooms and basement bakeries that produce Europe's best breads. When Daniel Leader opened his Catskills bakery, Bread Alone, twenty years ago, he was determined to duplicate the whole-grain and sourdough breads he had learned to make in the bakeries of Paris. The bakery was an instant success, and his first book, Bread Alone , brought Leader's breads to home kitchens. In this, his second book, Leader shares his experiences traveling throughout Europe in search of the best artisan breads. He learned how to make new-wave sourdough baguettes with spelt, flaxseed, and soy at an organic bakery in Alsace; and in Genzano, outside of Rome, he worked with the bakers who make the enormous country loaves so unique that they have earned the Indicazione Geografica Protetta (IGP), a government mark reserved for the most prized foods and wines. Leader's detailed recipes describe every step that it takes to reproduce these rare loaves, which until now were available strictly locally. 32 pages of color illustrations
368 pages, Hardcover
First published August 13, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 26, 2018
A great breadmaker I will never be, but it is always fun to read a book which combines travel anecdotes with actual bread recipes. Perhaps it should become one of my holiday traditions, since I love to eat bread if not actually to love making it. Focusing mostly on France and Italy, Daniel Leader takes the reader on a journey that really opens the eyes for why certain breads do taste so much better.
I like the layout of the book. Each chapter presents a specific town/province and then discusses that area's best breads AND bakeries. At the end of each section is a selection of recipes, along with a FAQ side, in case there are any questions as to how a loaf might come out of the reader's oven. All very good, but the real find here is the extra amount of attention paid to each journey and why the author went there, what he found, and how each local European bakery does something a little bit different than the next. Since I have certainly enjoyed eating my way through the continent, I certainly cannot get to every single boulangerie in France (though I have tried). Thus, this book comes into play.
In France, baguettes are always baked with soft winter flour and are slowly fermented. In contrast, the "baguettes" you see at American supermarkets usually contain flour made from spring wheat, which has a higher protein content and bakes up very dry.
The other factor mentioned frequently in this book is the type of equipment used by the bakeries he visits. Some still use ancient stirrers while others have high-tech ovens and mixers. He mentions this data because it does affect the type of bread being made, so I appreciated that since I will never ever have anything like that. While I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, I have my eye on the Czech Christmas Bread, because it's so beautiful when ready that I could just stand there and stare at it forever.
Bake it, shake it, make it.
Book Season = Year Round (glossy crusts)
I like the layout of the book. Each chapter presents a specific town/province and then discusses that area's best breads AND bakeries. At the end of each section is a selection of recipes, along with a FAQ side, in case there are any questions as to how a loaf might come out of the reader's oven. All very good, but the real find here is the extra amount of attention paid to each journey and why the author went there, what he found, and how each local European bakery does something a little bit different than the next. Since I have certainly enjoyed eating my way through the continent, I certainly cannot get to every single boulangerie in France (though I have tried). Thus, this book comes into play.
In France, baguettes are always baked with soft winter flour and are slowly fermented. In contrast, the "baguettes" you see at American supermarkets usually contain flour made from spring wheat, which has a higher protein content and bakes up very dry.
The other factor mentioned frequently in this book is the type of equipment used by the bakeries he visits. Some still use ancient stirrers while others have high-tech ovens and mixers. He mentions this data because it does affect the type of bread being made, so I appreciated that since I will never ever have anything like that. While I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, I have my eye on the Czech Christmas Bread, because it's so beautiful when ready that I could just stand there and stare at it forever.
Bake it, shake it, make it.
Book Season = Year Round (glossy crusts)
July 26, 2018
There are much better bread books out there. This is the first book I bought when I started making sourdough. I loved Leader's stories behind each type of bread and his research. But after many, many trials, my starter and levains never worked well. And the loaves I made were very hit-or-miss. Some turned out ok, good flavor, but not enough rise, and some were complete duds. I then started noticing typos, missing info, etc... and googled reviews of Leader's book, and realized there are serious errors in his recipes! So many complaints online that confirmed my problems with it. I am a beginner at this, and it was very disappointing to realize the book was at fault! I gave up for a year.
Then I started watching videos by other bakers, and attempted a starter again----and was successful!! So exciting. And I found Emilie Raffa's Artisan Sourdough Made Easy. A fabulous book for beginners!! No, it is not really easy to make sourdough, but if you follow the correct instructions, it is possible to make incredible bread! I have made several really good loaves now. This is really the best way to make bread-- with a natural fermented yeast, not store bought yeast. I am still learning, but now I know it is possible! So I cannot recommend Local Breads for the recipes, just the info and stories. My next book will be Tartine by Chad Robertson.
Then I started watching videos by other bakers, and attempted a starter again----and was successful!! So exciting. And I found Emilie Raffa's Artisan Sourdough Made Easy. A fabulous book for beginners!! No, it is not really easy to make sourdough, but if you follow the correct instructions, it is possible to make incredible bread! I have made several really good loaves now. This is really the best way to make bread-- with a natural fermented yeast, not store bought yeast. I am still learning, but now I know it is possible! So I cannot recommend Local Breads for the recipes, just the info and stories. My next book will be Tartine by Chad Robertson.
September 23, 2018
Eh, I liked it.
It is a fine cookbook, for sure, something about the design just disinterested me early on.
There are quick snippets of photos of the foods that lead to pages, in which, you need to go back and find the photo to the picture and ugh, it is kind of a mess.
If you are looking for a bread baking book, or looking for another, let me help you! The Larousse Book of Bread by Eric Kayser and The Hot Bread Kitchen by Waldman Rodriguez are fantasitic for the inquiring master baker ( I have reviews on these too! )!!
It is a fine cookbook, for sure, something about the design just disinterested me early on.
There are quick snippets of photos of the foods that lead to pages, in which, you need to go back and find the photo to the picture and ugh, it is kind of a mess.
If you are looking for a bread baking book, or looking for another, let me help you! The Larousse Book of Bread by Eric Kayser and The Hot Bread Kitchen by Waldman Rodriguez are fantasitic for the inquiring master baker ( I have reviews on these too! )!!
May 3, 2016
Food porn at its finest, the recipes are above my level of ambition, but I still found a fair amount of useful information in here along with some fun reading. Required for people wanting to bake artisan breads, especially in locations not served by the likes of Acme Bakery, etc.
January 28, 2021
I don't know that I've ever read a book with this many errors in it. They apparently hired an editor who thinks that bread flour is just flour you use to make bread, so a bunch of recipes list all-purpose flour in the ingredients but bread flour in the instructions. Then there are the inaccuracies that reflect Leader's knowledge gaps, such as his description of the magical type 85 flour as having 15% of the bran sifted out, which makes no sense if you know that whole-wheat flour is T150. Type in French flours indicates ash content (what's left after burning), which is essentially mineral content. Higher ash means more flavor compounds so is similar to but not the same as extraction rate.
But worst of all are the errors in the recipes. Some are more irritating than anything, like the way he gets baker's percentages wrong all the time. He has you start building a liquid levain with 160g water and 50g flour, but he lists it as 60% hydration instead of 320%. In the old world baguette, he somehow gets 150g water to 300g flour wrong, as 55% water instead of 50%. In the whole spelt loaf, he talks in the intro specifically about using a rye sourdough starter instead of creating a spelt one and he lists this in the ingredients, but in the instructions he keeps referring to a spelt sourdough. He has you make a single loaf but then refers to proofing multiple loaves. In every recipe I had to reread and quadruple-check to see what I missed, but it was mostly annoying rather than harmful to the recipe.
Other times, though, the errors affect the outcome. The buckwheat batârd is the worst example. He lists the levain ingredients as 300g (1 1/2 cups) 130% hydration starter, 35g water, and 100g flour, but in the instructions he says to use only 1/4 cup starter (no gram equivalent listed). If you build the levain according to his proportions, you get an impossible low hydration of around 30%, made even drier by the thirsty buckwheat flour. Then the main recipe has you use only 125g of this either 460g or 210g starter (depending on whether you use the amount of starter in the ingredient list or in the instructions). Why? The whole point of making a levain separate from your starter is that you can make exactly the amount and ratio you want without altering the main starter. The Auvergne dark rye, too, has a hydration problem.
Another odd thing is that the photos are in the wrong sections. The section on Parisian breads has the photos for the Auvergne breads, while the section on the Auvergne has photos of the Italian breads, and so on. Flipping back to a previous section is pretty annoying, especially since the recipes don't say which page the photos are on.
After some confused and frustrated recipe reading, I found a whole Fresh Loaf forum dedicated to clearing up the myriad errors in this book. The corrected version of the buckwheat batârd was excellent, and I also enjoyed the miche. I'm glad to find more information on the differences between American and European breads, and how the wheat varietals and milling processes affect them. But the information is vague, and the writing leaves a lot to be desired. I picked up Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast around the same time, and it is much more engagingly written. Plus it isn't jam-packed with typos!
One thing I did like about the recipe layout is the time estimates under the title. Those were very helpful. In addition, the chapter beginnings have valuable information on regional bread styles. Leader's writing style is slightly off-putting, however, and I can't help but feel that he missed a chance to encourage the use of different flour types instead of adapting everything to all-purpose/bread/whole wheat with no other option, though probably 14 years ago the availability of flours to home bakers was more limited than today. With those reservations plus the egregious typos, I can't recommend this book as much more than a reference on regional styles.
Notes:
Stiff starters were used before refrigeration because they are less likely to go acidic at room temperature than liquid starters.
Bigas are very stiff and fermented for a long time because Italian flours were lower protein and needed time and support to develop gluten.
He says French T85 as having 15% of the bran sifted out but it's actually ash content.
He says Italian 00 flour comes in different protein levels but he fails to mention that it's a finer grind so more absorptive.
He says corn flour is made from whole kernels while cornmeal is the outer husk so you can't substitute finely ground cornmeal for corn flour, but this makes no sense. The germ and most of the husk are removed from refined cornmeal, but it still has the starchy endosperm.
German rye is made with acidic starter to keep amylase from from breaking down starches into sugars and becoming dense like the bread made with yeast. Instead, the starches gelatinize and trap gases.
But worst of all are the errors in the recipes. Some are more irritating than anything, like the way he gets baker's percentages wrong all the time. He has you start building a liquid levain with 160g water and 50g flour, but he lists it as 60% hydration instead of 320%. In the old world baguette, he somehow gets 150g water to 300g flour wrong, as 55% water instead of 50%. In the whole spelt loaf, he talks in the intro specifically about using a rye sourdough starter instead of creating a spelt one and he lists this in the ingredients, but in the instructions he keeps referring to a spelt sourdough. He has you make a single loaf but then refers to proofing multiple loaves. In every recipe I had to reread and quadruple-check to see what I missed, but it was mostly annoying rather than harmful to the recipe.
Other times, though, the errors affect the outcome. The buckwheat batârd is the worst example. He lists the levain ingredients as 300g (1 1/2 cups) 130% hydration starter, 35g water, and 100g flour, but in the instructions he says to use only 1/4 cup starter (no gram equivalent listed). If you build the levain according to his proportions, you get an impossible low hydration of around 30%, made even drier by the thirsty buckwheat flour. Then the main recipe has you use only 125g of this either 460g or 210g starter (depending on whether you use the amount of starter in the ingredient list or in the instructions). Why? The whole point of making a levain separate from your starter is that you can make exactly the amount and ratio you want without altering the main starter. The Auvergne dark rye, too, has a hydration problem.
Another odd thing is that the photos are in the wrong sections. The section on Parisian breads has the photos for the Auvergne breads, while the section on the Auvergne has photos of the Italian breads, and so on. Flipping back to a previous section is pretty annoying, especially since the recipes don't say which page the photos are on.
After some confused and frustrated recipe reading, I found a whole Fresh Loaf forum dedicated to clearing up the myriad errors in this book. The corrected version of the buckwheat batârd was excellent, and I also enjoyed the miche. I'm glad to find more information on the differences between American and European breads, and how the wheat varietals and milling processes affect them. But the information is vague, and the writing leaves a lot to be desired. I picked up Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast around the same time, and it is much more engagingly written. Plus it isn't jam-packed with typos!
One thing I did like about the recipe layout is the time estimates under the title. Those were very helpful. In addition, the chapter beginnings have valuable information on regional bread styles. Leader's writing style is slightly off-putting, however, and I can't help but feel that he missed a chance to encourage the use of different flour types instead of adapting everything to all-purpose/bread/whole wheat with no other option, though probably 14 years ago the availability of flours to home bakers was more limited than today. With those reservations plus the egregious typos, I can't recommend this book as much more than a reference on regional styles.
Notes:
Stiff starters were used before refrigeration because they are less likely to go acidic at room temperature than liquid starters.
Bigas are very stiff and fermented for a long time because Italian flours were lower protein and needed time and support to develop gluten.
He says French T85 as having 15% of the bran sifted out but it's actually ash content.
He says Italian 00 flour comes in different protein levels but he fails to mention that it's a finer grind so more absorptive.
He says corn flour is made from whole kernels while cornmeal is the outer husk so you can't substitute finely ground cornmeal for corn flour, but this makes no sense. The germ and most of the husk are removed from refined cornmeal, but it still has the starchy endosperm.
German rye is made with acidic starter to keep amylase from from breaking down starches into sugars and becoming dense like the bread made with yeast. Instead, the starches gelatinize and trap gases.
August 24, 2012
An exceptional book, and a very personal one. Leader talks about his trips to Europe and how he managed to aquire all recipes before he explains how to bake them. Every part (Italy, france, ...) has a nice backstory and the recipes are also expressed in metric units.
I like the storytelling the most, and the recipes I've tried so far have not failed eighter. Most recipes are fairly unique within the book. I wish there were more pictures present, they look amazing!
The only "downside" to the book is the small quantity in which Leader bakes compared to for instance Hamelman. When Hamelman says in his BREAD book "will make 2 large loaves", he usually calls for +/- 1000gr of flour. Leader thinks 2 large loaves need 500gr of flour. My proofing baskets are too big! So I usually end up with only one loaf.
Of course this is simple to fix: multiply by 2! You do have to think about it.
There are also special sourdough recipes present like buckwheat bâtards or semolina levain used in some regions of Italy. I really like the sourdough parts but there are some straight recipes available too and most Italian recipes of course call for a biga.
Overall, really a must have!
I like the storytelling the most, and the recipes I've tried so far have not failed eighter. Most recipes are fairly unique within the book. I wish there were more pictures present, they look amazing!
The only "downside" to the book is the small quantity in which Leader bakes compared to for instance Hamelman. When Hamelman says in his BREAD book "will make 2 large loaves", he usually calls for +/- 1000gr of flour. Leader thinks 2 large loaves need 500gr of flour. My proofing baskets are too big! So I usually end up with only one loaf.
Of course this is simple to fix: multiply by 2! You do have to think about it.
There are also special sourdough recipes present like buckwheat bâtards or semolina levain used in some regions of Italy. I really like the sourdough parts but there are some straight recipes available too and most Italian recipes of course call for a biga.
Overall, really a must have!
October 15, 2019
Wow. This book.
Local Breads is both intimidating and ... accessible. Dan Leader does a beautiful job of giving a bit of history mixed with wonderful detailed explanations and expected outcomes.
I would advise/caution that you read this book slowly and digest the information before moving on. There's a lot of information, none of it extraneous.
I have made the Parisian Daily Bread (Baguette normal) several times and it is wonderful. It's a good place to start on this delicious journey.
Of course, I truly appreciate that the recipes are given in both volume and weights, plus Dan added the measurements in bakers percentages which is awesome.
There are gorgeous photos throughout Local Breads. I only wish they were with the actual recipes.
The recipes, directions and information are by necessity over several pages. That's not my preferred format but as long as you carefully keep your place, it's fine.
On a personal note, Dan Leader has a place in my heart. I had a question . . . so I emailed him. . . and he responded with the answer within 2 hours. That's a good man who cares about how his recipes work for us.
Local Breads is both intimidating and ... accessible. Dan Leader does a beautiful job of giving a bit of history mixed with wonderful detailed explanations and expected outcomes.
I would advise/caution that you read this book slowly and digest the information before moving on. There's a lot of information, none of it extraneous.
I have made the Parisian Daily Bread (Baguette normal) several times and it is wonderful. It's a good place to start on this delicious journey.
Of course, I truly appreciate that the recipes are given in both volume and weights, plus Dan added the measurements in bakers percentages which is awesome.
There are gorgeous photos throughout Local Breads. I only wish they were with the actual recipes.
The recipes, directions and information are by necessity over several pages. That's not my preferred format but as long as you carefully keep your place, it's fine.
On a personal note, Dan Leader has a place in my heart. I had a question . . . so I emailed him. . . and he responded with the answer within 2 hours. That's a good man who cares about how his recipes work for us.
April 21, 2010
I open this book multiple times every week, as I bake bread every other day. Great discussion of how bread is viewed, baked, bought, and treasured in many parts of Europe. I have 2 sourdough starters on my kitchen counter that I feed and water daily. I recommend using a metric scale and cupo for measuring ingredienmts, as the person who did the conversions to the American system screwed up big time. My scale is very inexpensive and dates from 30 years ago but still does the trick.
March 29, 2010
Recommended by Mathias, after the First Friday bread "contest" in March -- he brought pretzels. (I brought the only other bread: 3 different slow-knead loaves.) Made the pretzels yesterday. OMG good. Don't know if I'll make any other recipes while I have it out from the library; most seem to need quite a bit of attention and a baking stone, neither of which do I have right now. But I want to come back to it one of these days.
November 21, 2011
I have been toying with sourdough baking for a little while, and had good success with some recipes off the internet. This book, however, helped me move up to breads with impressively chewy crusts and fluffy tender insides, close to what you'd get from a nice boulangerie in France. The information about techniques and tricks to replicate professional bakery results in a home environment is first-rate.
January 23, 2012
This is an excellent resource for home breadmakers. While I enjoyed Jeffrey Hamelman's "Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes" for developing a greater understanding of the science and techniques, "Local Breads" has easier descriptions for me to follow and offers better tips for inexperienced and moderately experienced breadmakers. I am looking forward to making many, mandy breads from this book!
January 3, 2008
Absolutely stunning recipes contained herein. Don't expect to be able to make them in a day (most require at least an overnight fermentation of the dough, if not more), but the results are amazing. I also loved reading all the stories of how he traveled around Europe learning from the artisan bakers and collecting their techniques and recipes.
October 9, 2018
I got this book last year just after Christmas because of getting two copies of Beranbaum's Bread Bible. There are lovely photos and several recipes in the book that I keep meaning to bake and yet I STILL haven't tried any of them!
Hence the 3 star rating. Once I finally bake something, I suspect I'll be adding another star.
Hence the 3 star rating. Once I finally bake something, I suspect I'll be adding another star.
Read
December 28, 2010If I were going to buy another cookbook, I'd own this one. At the moment I've had it checked out from the library for about two months straight (oh the perils of being a librarian). I loved the clear explanations of types of pre-ferments. An excellent instruction for someone ready to play with sourdoughs, but it would have confused me if I'd picked it up without experience with bread.
October 6, 2014
Want a book with great recipes, very clear instructions, a large and informative section at the beginning to explain the ABCs of bread baking and technology, and enough pictures to make your mouth constantly water? Then this is your book. It's been a fantastic resource for this novice. And you'll just want to hang out with Dan Leader and listen to him tell stories all night.
February 23, 2017
I loved the content, the interesting locations Leader traveled to, and the creative recipes. However, the breads were generally hit-or-miss, and I've heard this is typical with his books, that they are published with many mistakes. I would buy this book but check online to see if others have posted corrections.
June 25, 2010
Lots of helpful techniques about bread baking that you can apply to things other than their recipes. Recipes are good for people just starting to bake bread too. I mostly used this to make my starter.
February 20, 2008
Another great bread book - only second to Maggie Glezer's book.
May 13, 2008
This is an amazing and *smacks yourself on the forehead* work that really makes you re-think what you know about bread baking.
February 1, 2015
Daniel Leader is a magician with bread. In addition to a wide variety of recipes, he also offers us troubleshooting tips for if your bread doesn't quite turn out the way you were hoping.
September 11, 2012
Decent book but there are quite a few errors.
March 24, 2016
Too many errors and misleading information in how dough should look, smell, feel like, keep this book from being anything more than an anecdotal memoir of where the author made bread.
May 2, 2016
Looked like a great book; wasn't up for reading it just now. What I managed to read or skim was written well and the recipes look good.
August 21, 2020
Very much a professional bakers kind of book. Some real in-depth instructions on the science of sourdough from many famous (I assume!) bakers in a variety of countries visited by the author.
Leader is quite well known as an expert and he offers expert advice. It can almost be overwhelming but also very informative. I have another book that is a much more simplified version that has become my beginners bible but I see myself coming back to this one at a later date as I get more experience. I have always loved baking bread and am enjoying my return to in now but this time with the wild yeasts in sourdough.
I used to make all our bread when my family was young. Every week I'd make 3 to 4 loaves to last through the week, more if my parents were going to visit as my Dad just loved it! Periodically, I bake one of my favorites with yeast but it just doesn't have the same level of challenge and satisfaction - sure smells good though and brings back beautiful memories!
Leader is quite well known as an expert and he offers expert advice. It can almost be overwhelming but also very informative. I have another book that is a much more simplified version that has become my beginners bible but I see myself coming back to this one at a later date as I get more experience. I have always loved baking bread and am enjoying my return to in now but this time with the wild yeasts in sourdough.
I used to make all our bread when my family was young. Every week I'd make 3 to 4 loaves to last through the week, more if my parents were going to visit as my Dad just loved it! Periodically, I bake one of my favorites with yeast but it just doesn't have the same level of challenge and satisfaction - sure smells good though and brings back beautiful memories!
July 26, 2022
This book is full of great stories and interesting recipes, but it is also full of typos and inaccurate statements. If you are an experienced baker and just want some ideas for European breads, this is a great place to start. If you're a beginner, I'd find something different.
July 16, 2020
Beautifully written and great explanations ! I noted a few recipes for myself.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews