Title:	Slow Dough: Real Bread
	Author:	Chris Young
	Published:	September 13, 2016, Nourish
	No. of Pages:	176
	Cover Price:	$29.95 Hardcover, $8.99 Kindle

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If you’ve ever eaten bread in Europe, you know there’s no comparison to what is offered in America except in a few exclusive, and usually expensive, bakeries. Why is European bread so much better? Of course part of it is the flour, since the flour in the US has been genetically altered, but most American bakeries are too lazy to make bread the proper way. Slow Dough: Real Bread by British baker Chris Young is a great, easy-to-understand primer on proper bread making at home. Not all of the recipes take a long time, and some can be started early and left to sit while the home baker spends time running errands, cleaning, gardening, or at work.

Once I saw the mouthwatering breads in this book, I started baking, one recipe at a time. My family swooned, and I found that with Chris Young’s complete, but simple instructions, even I (a baker who is usually in a hurry or traveling for my job) can turn out incredible breads that taste just like those I’ve often sampled in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Rome. The first recipe I prepared was the Cheese-Topped Chilli and Onion Boule. The word I would use to describe the finished product is Magnifique. I waited for my next London trip to pick up some Lincolnshire Poacher cheese before I made the Rustic Lincolnshire Poacher and Onion Bread, and it was well-worth waiting for the cheese. Other breads I love that are included in the book are Middle Eastern rolls called Simit that are coated with grape molasses (available at Middle Eastern groceries or online) which are incredible, and Finnish Pulla which were easy and good.

In the early chapters of the book there are very detailed instructions that are easy for everyone - beginning bakers to veterans – to understand, and not only does the book contain incredible breads, but also an entire chapter dedicated to using up leftovers, which will certainly come in handy since you may not finish the entire loaf before baking another. There is an excellent recipe for Lahmacun, the Turkish or Armenian thin-crusted pizza, and an excellent recipe for Appley Village Buns and Cinnamon and Hazelnut Knots. The recipes have a decidedly British flare, and even though some take a while to prepare, the end result is well-worth it.

The pictures are beautiful, the prose is well-written, and this is a book that anyone who loves good bread and is willing to spend time making it should include in their cookbook collection. I love you Chris Young!

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this excellent book.

This book may be purchased at Amazon:
Slow Dough: Real Bread: Bakers' secrets for making amazing long-rise loaves at home