12 May 2010

May's Book of the Month: Dough


This month's featured book is Dough by Richard Bertinet. I first met Richard at the Taste festival in Bath in 2008 and was immediately struck by his passion for baking. At the festival I really enjoyed mucking in with the bread demonstration and creating a fougasse, even though he thought it would be fun to rub wet dough up my arms!
I've made bread hundreds of times but his method of making a very soft dough that you work using a scooping and stretching technique is quite different to the process described in most books. If you feel that you need a little extra help there is a useful DVD with the book that goes through the main processes. I have successfully made many breads in the book and although it's a cliche to say it I do find breadmaking is enormously satisfying. If you think the bookclub meeting is just going to be sarnies all night you'd be so wrong!