52 Loaves by William Alexander. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2010.
A few years ago, I took a notion that I would like to work on breadmaking skills. Once the weather turns cold the appeal of the fireside is undeniable and a loaf of bread baking in the oven, filling the house with that warm, fresh-baked aroma, certainly helps to complete the ideal. There is a certain mystique around breadmaking, but the process is actually quite simple, at least for a basic loaf. I wrote about baking bread on a snowy pre-spring day back in March. You will find that post here.
A year or two ago, when I expressed an interest in breadmaking, my sister gifted me Bill Alexander’s book, 52 Loaves, for Christmas. Like many readers, I have a shelf full of books awaiting me. After joining the queue for an extended period, 52 Loaves finally made it to the top of my reading list. With another winter at hand, I enjoyed this foray into Alexander’s experiences with bread.
The book’s title, 52 Loaves, suggests to me that Alexander experiments with a different bread every week for a year. That’s not the case. Rather, Bill sets baking the perfect loaf of one particular type of bread as his goal and sets out to achieve this perfect loaf by experimenting with the baking process over a year of weekly sessions.
The loaf in question is peasant bread, or Pain de Campagne, which uses just four basic ingredients: flour, yeast, salt and water. Alexander’s search for perfection leads him in many directions across the year. He experiments with growing his own wheat and processing it into flour. He visits a yeast production factory in Montreal. He builds his own backyard oven. He experiments with the baker’s percentage. He develops his own levain, or sourdough starter. He takes a baking course in Paris at the famous Ritz Hotel. He visits a traditional market and communal baking oven in Tunisia. And finally, he shares the art of breadmaking with monks in France!
Alexander is a convivial and informative guide to the many aspects of breadmaking. His book is at once an entertaining read and a source of interesting facts and data about the staff of life, bread. Quite highly recommended for anyone who has ever enjoyed a loaf of bread.
Willow House Chronicles 
It sounds like an interesting book. Does he give an opinion of how you can achieve this best loaf?
Just making the same type of bread over and over again would eventually produce something good I would think.
Bill does achieve what he considers to be a great loaf near the end of the book, and yes, you get lots of pointers such as weighing ingredients rather than measuring them out by cups. There are a few recipes at the end of the book, including directions for making your own levain from scratch without using commercial yeast, and of course a recipe for Pain de Campagne.
Does he have any thoughts on soaking grains? I made this bread awhile ago: http://livesimply.me/2014/02/05/soaked-whole-wheat-cinnamon-raisin-bread/
and it turned out really well, maybe one of the best breads I’ve ever made.
Hmm, I think soaking comes up mostly in regard to trying to remove the chaff from the grain when threshing. But that’s a problem because then you get fermentation! Your recipe looks good, but you’re not really soaking the ‘grain’. It’s already at the flour stage. I’m not sure how the recipes compare, but he does leave his dough for an extended period. I have read elsewhere that gluten intolerance may arise from the rapid rise methods used by modern commercial bakeries.
Yeah, I think there are two different approaches – sprouting grain, which is supposed to improve its nutritional profile and involves soaking it to get it to sprout, and obviously has to be done with the grain still whole, and soaking grain, which is supposed to allow some enzyme action to remove phytic acid and can be done before or after it’s ground. I actually found sprouted whole wheat flour at Bulk Barn the other day. Seems to be getting popular (relatively speaking).
Oh, I’d love to read that. I’ve never managed to make a truly great loaf of bread. I need a teacher!
I gave my partner this book for Christmas after reading your review. He has this hardcore, borderline obsession with wheat. I thought the book would be right up his alley!
Karen, I hope your partner enjoys the book. I thought it was quite interesting, and I’m pleased to pass the title along to another reader. Perhaps in the new year, I’ll review a few more books, though I’ve gotten away from posting, with other things keeping me busy these days. Thanks for visiting and leaving me your note. Hope you had a good Christmas!