In his book “Dough”, Richard Bertinet does a fantastic job describing the art of making bread. Using just four ingredients you’ll find yourself making delicious breads while following his simple instructions and illustrated kneading techniques. This book is ideal for all of the cooks out there who are interested in getting started with bread making. After reading this book I felt excited and eager to make my first bread. Since then, bread making has become a part of our kitchen twice a week!

The book includes a great collection of recipes and dedicates an entire chapter to each of five types of dough in addition to an introductory chapter on how to make and work the dough. The different types of dough outlined in the book include white, olive, brown, rye and sweet dough recipes. Of the many white dough recipes that can be found in the book, my favorites include the baguette, epi, breadsticks and fougasse. Especially the fougasse is a great first bread to make (as the author states in the included movie). Not only is it easy to make, it tastes great as well!

Another favorite of mine outlined in the book is the olive dough for which you’ll find recipes including flatbread, soup bowls (cool!), pizza and ciabatta bread. I’ve even adapted my own pizza dough recipe to resemble the recipe in this book as I found it to be the easiest and tastiest pizza dough to make.

The brown dough recipes include a whole wheat bread and a personal favorite: the poppy seed star roll. Poppy seed stars are so easy to make and always amaze our guests!

Without a doubt, the DVD included with this book will get you fired up about making bread. Richard Bertinet does an amazing job of getting you excited about making bread and shows you the basics of his own kneading technique which results in lighter breads. In addition to showing you the basics of making and kneading dough, the movie shows you how to make baguette, epi a basic bread loaf and fougasse. The movie is 20 minutes long and isn’t of exceptional quality, but highly recommended! I haven’t bought a store-made bread since I bought this book and watched the DVD.

Richard Bertinet was trained as a baker in France, including formal training at the Grand Moulin de Paris. He now owns his own cookery school in Bath, England named after himself: The Bertinet Kitchen. You can visit the his website to find out about upcoming classes and to leave feedback on the book.

The book sells in hardcover, has 160 pages and is for sale on Amazon.com.