If you’ve grabbed a copy of the latest issue of Sauce, you know that we’re obsessed with bread this month. And the bread-centric conversation continues in our By the Book column as we take a look at new cookbooks – beginning with Nick Malgieri’s Bread – to help you turn out the perfect loaf.
From baking with Julia Child and teaching at the Institute of Culinary Education to working as pastry chef at the Waldorf Astoria and Windows on the World, Malgieri has been in the baking business for more than three decades. In Malgieri’s new book, he looks at breads from around the world (from Neapolitan dough for calzoni to a poppy-seed filled dough from a bakery-cafe in Melbourne, Australia) while showing you that making a great loaf is easier than you think.
As luck would have it, the award-winning cookbook writer, pastry chef and cooking teacher is coming to St. Louis. On Monday, November 12 from 6 to 8:30 p.m., Malgieri will be at Cravings, located at 8149 Big Bend Blvd., to demonstrate a couple dishes and sign copies of his new book. (To purchase a ticket, contact Tim Brennan via email at cravings@birch.net. A $35 ticket includes an autographed cookbook, food and wine.)
Rather than choosing just one delicious recipe from Nick Malgieri’s Bread, we chatted with the baker-man about his recipes, the state of bread in the U.S. and his most treasured bread memory.
What trends in baking interest you right now?
Bread is really coming to the forefront. People are enjoying baking bread at home. They are realizing that, with a little effort, it’s easy to get good results. In the past, typical American recipes for bread were “knead the dough, add more flour if necessary, knead until smooth and elastic.” People added way more flour than necessary and the breads tended to be heavy. Breads now have less flour, which results in a lighter dough, lighter breads. What is your go-to brand of flour?
I always use Gold Medal. It’s better for bread.
What is an underrated flour worth baking with?
Durum flour is wonderful.
Do you have a favorite recipe from the cookbook?
I love the focaccia because it’s easy to make. For this time of year, there’s a wonderful cranberry-pecan coffeecake made from a yeast-risen dough. That’s also easy to make and doesn’t require a lot of elaborate shaping because it’s baked in a bundt pan.
You state in the cookbook that the home cook doesn’t need a wood-burning oven, a steam-injection system for the oven, a spiral mixer or a proof box to duplicate the recipes in your new book. So what are the essential tools that the home cook needs to turn out a quality loaf?
It’s much easier to mix the new, softer doughs with an electric mixer, although there is a whole step-by-step series in the book on mixing it by hand. A mixer is really helpful, though. It takes a lot of the effort out of making it. A good dough scraper is helpful for scraping dough off the work surface as well as for dividing dough. Good sturdy baking pans. Nowadays, any digital scale you buy measures grams and ounces. And an instant-read thermometer because that’s the best way to tell if a loaf of bread is done.
What is your fondest bread memory?
My step-great-grandmother used to bake bread. I only remember eating it, not making it with her. She used to make these funny soft, little rolls that she would split as soon as they came out of the oven. She would drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Oh, were they good!
In the cookbook, you mention that you don’t use the term “artisan bread” because it’s so overused.
“Artisan” doesn’t have any meaning anymore. Industrially made [bread] is being called “artisan bread.” Once that happens, I kind of think there’s no point in using the term. I don’t think it’s necessary to label everything. Those are all buzzwords that make people think, “This must be good” – or $8 a loaf. In the past, we had good bread and nobody had special names for what it was. It was just bread.
What’s your most burning question when it comes to baking bread? Tell us in the comments section below for a chance to win a copy of Nick Malgieri’s Bread by Nick Malgieri. We’ll announce the winner in next week’s By the Book column. And, this Friday, at 11 a.m. and 10 p.m., we’ll answer all of these questions with the help of two of St. Louis’ most talented bakers joining us for Sound Bites, our monthly show on St. Louis Public Radio. And now, we’d like to congratulate Sara, whose comment on last week’s By the Book column has won her a copy of The Art of Preserving. Sara, keep an eye out for an email from the Sauce crew.
This article appears in November 2012.