Member Reviews
ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I am a sucker when it comes to requesting cookbooks. I love seeing all the beautiful and delicious imagery. I love learning the science behind the recipes. I would recommend The Bread Book for all bakers and potential bakers.
A classically styled cookbook with no photos. If you are looking for a brilliant resource for comparing a variety of methods of baking bread this is a great starting point. The recipes within are highly informative and easy to follow. I would hope with future copies of this book to incorporate photos that would help modern bakers who are used to having a photo for comparison and inspiration. Definitely a book for inclusion in a library's cookery resource section.
I can't say I've "read" it completely as I'm still trying out new recipes, but as far as techniques for baking go, this is "THE ONE" book. It's amazing and really pushes me to try new things as far as baking bread goes: from shaping to proofing to technical and chemical details about what happens to flour, everything is carefully explained.
Full review to come on YouTube.
Louis P. De Gouy was the chef at the Waldorf-Astoria in the first half of the 20th century and The Bread Book is a republication of a collection of bread recipes he has put together.
The book is clearly old-fashioned, having no pictures but plenty of information in a rather concise presentation. The recipes themselves also are short and to the point.
It is organized into chapters for different types of bread, e.g. Soda Breads, Yeast Breads but also Muffins, Popovers etc.
Each chapter starts with some general advice regarding that type of bread, which errors to avoid and what else there is to know and is then followed by a recipe section.
If you are looking for a book with basic techniques for bread with longer fermentation times (i.e. sourdough, long rises) this one is not for you. The breads that are leavened with yeast rely on a lot of yeast and short proofs, with accordingly less complex flavour profiles.
However, if you are looking for a treasure trove of knowledge and recipes for everything that can very loosely be categorized as bread-ish, this one is for you. There are so many recipes to try out and I bet you can find many a recipe just like grandmas in the US have been baking for their families.
I have received a review copy via Netgalley and voluntarily provide my honest opinion. Thank you very much!
This book is really helpful to people who are looking to get started on making their own brad but have no idea where to start. The recipes are very straight for award and easy to understand. The ingredients and materials needed are well explained and the book makes sure to welcome the reader into the world of baking. I’d recommend this book for new bakers who want to branch out from sweets.
There are a few good bread recipes in this cookbook. Overall, it was a good read, but I would not purchase it at the store.
This is a must have for anybody that likes baking bread! So much information and over 500 recipes to choose from, this is definitely is a must have in my kitchen! I will definitely be adding this book to my repertoire!
This is a must have for any bread baker. I was very impressed with the variety of both simple and complex techniques and recipes. I highly recommend this cookbook.
This cookbook is a must have for every household! It contains recipes from basic breads to more complex breads. The author tells you what equipment you need, and which ingredients you'll need to keep on hand. The art of baking bread is demystified, and simplified so that anyone can be successful. The breads are delicious! I will be buying copies for family members for Christmas this year!
As an avid and skilled home cook and Baker. I find many cookbooks feel too simplistic or as though they are only for very advanced cooks. With very little in the middle. For me, this book fills that void beautifully in terms of bread baking.
While the quantity of recipes, 500 is a lot, may seem a little bit daunting for someone who is a new baker, in the end that means that this will be one of the only books you need. The author does a great job of breaking down the science of baking without feeling like he's pandering, while also allowing you to learn and grow in your skills. What blows my mind is the original publication date. This book has certainly stood the test of time and feels as though it could be a new release today. The only thing that may be holding you back is that certain ingredients may seem a little bit dated. However, many things have modern alternatives that you'd be able to substitute.
I very much enjoyed all the different categories and the way that this book allows you to jump into each one with a new level of confidence. While I do think this book could benefit greatly from photographs, I don't feel that they're terribly necessary and they would simply be a nice addition. It would simply make it that much better.
I will look forward to exploring these recipes in a more practical way. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC. I'm very grateful and I will absolutely be creating many of these recipes.
My review for The Bread Book, by Louis P. Gouy -
5 Stars
Alright let me start with the fact I am an avid baker, bread included. This cookbook was great for all things bread and for that I love it. I've been baking for years and I still managed to learn a few things from here, such as don't put your salt on top of yeast (it kills it) and be careful to make sure all ingredients are at the temperature the book states because baking is like chemistry and one thing off throws everything off.
I like how well this book explained things, slowly and always careful to ensure you stayed with the book. Bread can be tricky to make so a cookbook solely for it is amazing. It walks you through, step by step, and the pictures are beautiful. Definitely earns it's five stars and will keep an eye out for this author in the future.
This is truly a bread book. It is well indexed, well organized, and complete with hundreds of recipes! I quite enjoyed reading the history of bread and the introduction pieces of this book. After trying a few of the recipes, and enjoying them thoroughly, I highly recommend this to anyone looking for bread recipes to try. 500 recipes might seem overwhelming, but this bread book is an excellent reference and/or guide for all things related to baking bread!
There are no photographs in this book, and I think it would have made it just that much better.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I found the recipes in this book to be wonderful. I am not a novice baker, but I feel that these recipes would be easy to follow for the less experienced bakers as well as those who have been baking for a while. There are so many recipes that I am still working through, but to date, I am finding the scone recipes wonderful.
A definite hit, and highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this cookbook.
The Bread Book by Louis P. De Gouy
Publisher: Dover Publications
Genre: Cooking, Food & Wine
Publication Date: May 19, 2021
The Bread Book by Louis P. De Gouy contains over 500 recipes for all things bread!
The recipes were fairly easy to follow and were well explained. They can be tricky, but I actually made bread!
I will definitely be getting a copy of this for my kitchen!
I'm so grateful to Louis P. De Gouy, Dover Publications, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.
The Bread Book by Louis P. De Gouy is actually an unabridged, republication of The Bread Tray originally published in 1944. Mr. De Gouy, who passed away in 1946 spent thirty years as a chef at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and was one of the founders of Gourmet Magazine, which is no longer produced.
The original 1944 publication date explains and allows us to forgive the author’s assumption that the cooks reading this book are female. It also explains the lack of photos, which most readers in this era have come to expect but were seldom incorporated into cookbooks during the era that this book was originally published.
The fact that this book has stood the test of time makes it truly remarkable. With close to 600 recipes, the author explains in great detail the various ingredients used in bread-making and the role of each. The foreword of each chapter gives either a brief history of or gives tips relevant to
that bread product.
While seeming slightly technical in the current time, this book is nonetheless a valuable and comprehensive compendium for the bread maker. (I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.)
When you see a title that has 500 recipes you either think that it’s too many and you will never need them all OR you look at it like a reference Bible that will have everything you need to know. This book is definitely the latter! These are the OG recipes that were probably used by parents and grandparents. That being said fresh yeast is used (as opposed to dry which is more readily available in my area) but that is what makes it authentic. A former Waldorf Astoria chef can’t be wrong! This book has every recipe for dough related items that you can think of along with variations of every kind. Definitely read before you compete on The Great British Bake-off! Or just get this book as an investment in you current and future baking success! I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.
Anyone who likes to bake breads – quick and yeast; sweet and savory – will definitely want to pick up Louis P De Gouy’s The Bread Book. It is one of the most complete books on bread, and includes hundreds of recipes. The recipes are easy to follow and are written in standard form so that every baker, beginning to advanced, will be able to follow them successfully.
The book starts out with the history of bread (interesting), and explains what the main ingredients are and how they work to make good bread. The chapter on biscuits has more recipes for different kinds of biscuits than are included in most full books. The next chapter goes into quick breads, both sweet and savory, and with enough flavors that everyone will find something appealing.
This is a book that contains recipes for every kind of bread you’ve ever heard of, and dozens – maybe hundreds – of breads you’ve never heard of. Some of the recipes for yeast breads are suitable for adapting them for use in the automatic bread machine; this saves time and makes perfect dough.
Plan to make quick breads, corn breads, spoon breads, yeast breads, fruit breads and vegetable breads. There are also rolls, scones, holiday breads, buns (including sticky buns), muffins, popovers, and even gingerbread.
It is the only book you’ll ever need to bake bread of every kind, and is one of the best books out there. It could only be improved with the addition of photographs, which are unfortunately absent. There are no illustrations or step by step pictures to help shape the different breads, which is also something that would improve this book. This book should be an addition to every cookbook collection and will be used constantly by bakers everywhere.
Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author, for the opportunity to
read and give an honest review of this book.
For those that love to bake, this tome encompasses all forms of bread products including, but not limited to breads, rolls, scones, gingerbread, popovers and more.
The author seems knowledgeable about baking. At the beginning of each section, he shares interesting information about the types of breads he has included. He also includes tips to help you achieve the best results when using the book’s recipes.
This book would be an excellent addition to the library shelf of anyone interested in baking warm, fresh from the oven, bread treats!
I have a LOT of cookbooks featuring bread and couldn't imagine that I could possibly need another one. I was wrong! I promise you that this has dozens of recipes that you've never heard of. Who knew there were so many different ways to make biscuits? They've also covered muffins, popovers, scones, gingerbreads (again - who knew there were so many?), rolls, quick breads, yeast breads and more!
So many different recipes for the same thing I love it, biscuits, muffins, gingerbread, popovers. Lots of recipes. The one I tried worked but I had to take it out Of the oven 10min sooner. #TheBreadBookLouisDeGory