It’s Sunday Book Review day, & this week it’s a book I’m very close to – literally, a quote of mine is on the cover – and it’s Pauline Beaumont’s @paulinemarybeaumont’s #BreadTherapy @yellowkitebooks @hodderbooks. Disclaimer: I wasn’t involved with the writing of the book though I did read a pre-pub pdf of it in order to quote on it.
Pros: I was utterly taken with the premise, particularly in this lockdown time. At the start of the COVID crisis I was getting lots of interview requests that, for the most part, often from puzzled food editors perplexed that readers were turning away from “shopping on a plate” recipes, and #doingthedirty with flour & water from scratch. #BreadTherapy answers those questions and will suit bakers new or old, who already has their favourite sourdough book or way to bake bread, but might be curious about why they bake at all. And likewise, suit craft-adverse people whose coping mechanisms have been under stress, & might be gently helped by the somewhat meditative act of #BreadTherapy’s approach (well, if your approach suits that calm reflective way). The book is a mix of recipes & how-to’s interspersed with more probing questions to consider as you’re weighing, kneading and shaping. How to become your own observer. How to recognise your values. How to connect better with others. The cover & design are very smart for fairly low-cost book, so it feels quite plush.
Cons: Perhaps more “things to consider” for another book, outside of the scope of this one. When a baker bakes often and gets almost close to a bread-making addiction, the pleasure can turn into a subconscious burden. I know of many working bakers who have found that the relentlessness of baking can cause blind-spots & madness, even physical problems and injuries. “It ain’t all bliss” is perhaps what I’m getting at, & the book is somewhat light on those aspects.
Overall: Bread Therapy is a great gift to pair well with other baking books, or on it’s own, & also stimulate the minds of all bread heads at all levels to think about their motivation & hopes when they reach for their flour thinking “let’s bake bread today”.
