Nicolas de Bonnefons wrote two fabulous books in the 1650s. One, the Jardiner Francois, was translated by John Evelyn and published under the title, The French Gardiner. I have written an annotated edition that I will publish — one day. Bonnefons followed up the gardening book with a book called Les Delices de la Compagne….
Category: Bread Recipes
Recipes for Seminar #10: Sourdough
Most of the Seminar #10 on sourdough is being led by Karl de Smedt, founding curator of the Puratos Sourdough Library. He is suggesting a pancake and/or waffle recipe for the Thursday, July 16, 2020 Seminar/Workshop. “So we hewed off some of the inside logs of the cabin, and soon had a roaring fire. With…
July 9 English French Bread Seminar/Workshop with William Rubel
This page provides the recipe and mise en place information for participants in my Thursday Seminar/Workshop #9 on English French Bread. If you are registered for the Seminar I suggest you also register at my Facebook group: Bread History and Practice. That is where participants post images of their breads and we continue the discussion…
Recipe for bread by Louis Liger, 1711
This is the recipe and mise en place for my Zoom bread history seminar/workshop for Thursday, June 25, 2020, 9am Pacific Time. Please have the ingredients weighed out for the start of the seminar. Another Manner for Very Delicate Bread, by Louis Liger Le Ménage des Champs et Jardinier Francois, 1711 (pp. 16-17) Sometimes, when…
Mise en Place for Flatbread Seminar/Workshop #6
This week I am introducing flatbreads through an introduction to the history of bread. This is just an introduction to flatbreads. I am planning further sessions just on flatbreads led by people who are more expert than I am. It looks like we will be able to organize a session on flatbreads from the Indian…
Making Pine Bark Bread
In most of Europe, bread made from bark was a famine food. It was more regularly eaten Europe’s far North. The “bark” in bark bread is actually the cambium layer that grows under the bark. Pine was a common tree to use for bark breads. The cambium layer is pealed from the tree, dried, and ground into…
Flatbread with Olive Oil
I was at an event the other night at the California Academy of Sciences. Cocktail party talk. In that context I was asked what I am so often asked, “What is your favorite bread.” It sounds flip, but it is true. My favorite bread is the most recent one I’ve made.
An American Apple Bread circa 1860
A very light pleasant bread is made in France by a mixture of apples and flour, in the proportion of one of the former to two of the latter. The usual quantity of yeast is employed as in making common bread, and is beat with flour and warm pulp of the apples after they have…
Saj Bread with Recipe
The sound track is awful — a solo piano piece that grates on my nerves — and the baker is a professional from an odd kind of restaurant where he wears latex gloves while baking. This said, there is a recipe (modern, it includes sugar and is made with the whitest of white flour), and…
Manchet Bread from The Good Huswifes Handmaide in the Kitchen (1594)
This one of the earliest and most important English bread recipes. The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchen was published in England in 1594. It is one of the first English cookbooks. The anonymous author offers a wide range of recipes, mostly simple, and most reasonably accessible to modern readers. The book includes two
William Rubel 