Foodist: Cookbook Reviews

Village Baker

By Joe Ortiz

The long and short of it, you could pick up a copy of The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz, start at the beginning, bake your way to the last page, and open your own village bakery. A California regional baker since 1978 (Joe Ortiz bakes breads, his wife bakes pastries at Gayle's Bakery in Capitola, California) Ortiz brings his years of personal experience and his endless travels through Europe to the one subject he holds so dear: good bread. And by good bread, he means to best of what France, Germany, and Italy have to offer, as well as notable contributions from great American bakers working in the traditional, village baker style. Dense, crusty, flavorful loaves of bread that support life in and of themselves: Ortiz holds out the promise that this can actually be accomplished in the home kitchen - with the highest standards.

Ortiz's book starts in the style of a primer with sections on the basic ingredients, on kinds of leavenings, on basic techniques and procedures. Then he moves right in to the breads of France. He wants the newcomer to bake the very basic French loaf (think baguette) several times to get one decent loaf under the belt buckle. Then its open season on regional breads, rye breads, and specialty breads. Much the same is true of the sections devoted to Italy, Germany, and village bakers in the US. In a final section, Ortiz gives the true enthusiast professional recipes should they want to open their own bakery, or happen to be catering or working in a restaurant.
Schuyler Ingle...