Review by Booklist Review
Bread is the star of this refined cookbook from the storied bakery on Paris's Left Bank. As it should be the bakery is known for its giant, rustic sourdough miche, made with the same starter the author's grandfather used when he founded the bakery in 1932. Though Poilâne insists upon high-quality ingredients for the book's spare but precise recipes, she doesn't expect the impossible. Rather, she recommends brands readily available at most American supermarkets King Arthur flour, Land O'Lakes butter for breads like the Poilâne-style sourdough and black pepper pain de mie, pastries like croissants and cardamom-ginger-swirled broche feuilletée, and other breakfast and afternoon eats like bread granola, tartines, and bread-crumb-crusted lamb. Like the recipes themselves, which include both weight and mass measurements, Apollonia's recommendations are exacting without being elite. She encourages readers to observe humidity and temperature, take notes on how their dough behaves and adjust the recipes as necessary, just like they do at her family's bakery. Engaging prose will entice those curious about the namesake bakery, with rigorous recipes for those serious about bread.--Maggie Taft Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Poilâne, a third-generation bread baker, shares solid, accessible recipes from her landmark Parisian bakery. The recipes include a home version of the bakery's signature sourdough, and Poilâne's descriptions of processes--how bakers assess temperature without thermometers, head baker Felix's ability to fashion a loaf in a lightning-fast three seconds--fascinate. But less bread-centric recipes (many from a cafe opened in 1996) feel off-topic; while she offers her father's quirky yet enticing bread sandwich ("a piece of thin bread, buttered and toasted, sandwiched between two buttered slices of untoasted bread"), she also suggests a farro and green tomato salad and the Peruvian corn drink, chicha morada. Recipes are organized into three sections--morning (bread, croissants, and granola with bread crumbs in place of oats), afternoon (sandwiches, salads, and sweets like ice cream dotted with toasted bread cubes), and evening (experiments such as a "rice bread" made by pressing cooked rice into a pan). Sidebars include a thoughtful essay on a chandelier in the bakery that is a replica of one her father made for Salvador Dalí, and practical instructions for storing bread (freeze individually wrapped slices). Though occasionally this collection veers offtrack, the author's gentle voice and thoughtful insights beautifully enhance the many outstanding recipes. (Oct.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Online customers of the internationally famous French bakery Poilâne can now make similar food at home thanks to the author, who is the bakery's CEO and a third-generation baker profiled in Daniel Leader's Living Bread. In 2002, Poilâne unexpectedly ascended to head the family business so revered for resurrecting artisanal breads. Initially managing it from her Harvard dorm, Poilâne now steers between tradition and modernity, maintaining her family's commitment to craftsmanship while stretching beyond French ingredients and techniques to experiment with different grains, fermentation, vegan, and gluten-free items. Reflecting that balance, this cookbook relates the family story and includes recipes for traditional-style loaves but also has trendsetting recipes made with bread (tartines, granola), salads filled with grains, and fermented drinks similar to those in Poilâne's cafés in France and London. An informative chapter on storing bread describes its stages of freshness and suggests recipes for bread chips and pizzazz-filled croutons made with spirulina or dukkah. The clean design makes recipes for simple sweets (puff pastry, tarts, snack cakes, and cookies) easier to read than those in Eric Kayser's Maison Kayser's French Pastry Workshop. VERDICT Recommended for all artisanal bread lovers, people eating more grains, and some Francophiles, too.--Bonnie Poquette, Milwaukee
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