The "background" material of David's long-awaited work is in fact a
very imposing foreground; nearly half the book is devoted to such
matters as the botanical origins of wheat, the technology of
milling both before and since the Industrial Revolution, the
commercial manufacture of yeasts, and the history of ovens. What
David is really out to do is to explore the role of bread in
English life over the past few centuries. Hence her recipe-section,
too, proves to be a magnificent historical anthology filled with
lore from every source imaginable - Robert May, Hannah Glasse,
Eliza Acton, forgotten Women's Institute compilations, professional
baking manuals, letters from readers. Her own recipes, though
detailed and to the point, are fairly few and usually involve basic
rules or intelligent adaptations of directions from valuable
sources. She goes as far afield as pizza, croissants, and a quiche
involving Roquefort or other blue cheese. But her focus remains
British breads, from Irish soda-bread (still called "a cake of
bread" on its home turf) to crumpets (now, alas, sold in varieties
apparently "delivered direct from a plastics recycling plant").
Generous quotations from memoirists, novelists, travelers, and
knowledgeable acquaintances are interspersed among the old and
modern recipes - without seeming in the least like window-dressing.
Karen Hess provides an introduction briefly discussing American
ingredients and the history of US breadmaking, as well as
translations of British into American measurements and occasional
notes on equivalent ingredients. Exemplary. (Kirkus Reviews)
In this universally acclaimed book Elizabeth David deals with all aspects of flour milling, yeast, bread ovens and the different types of bread and flour available. The recipes cover yeast cookery of all kinds, and the many lovely, old-fashioned spiced breads, buns, pancakes and muffins, among others, are all described with her typical elegance and unrivalled knowledge.
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