Bread Matters

Andrew Whitley, organic baker and founder of The Village Bakery, reveals the secrets behind making good, nutritious bread at home.

Offering insight into bread making as only an insider can, in Bread Matters organic baker Andrew Whitley, founder of The Village Bakery in Melmerby, shows why and how to make real bread at home.

Unlike many bread book authors, Andrew has baked for a living for over 25 years. His recipes are foolproof because he explains what’s really going on, demystifying the science, sharing a practical baker’s craft – using the skills he deploys on his popular courses, he guides and inspires beginners and seasoned bakers alike.

And Bread Matters brings good news to those who have had to abandon bread because of dietary sensitivity, showing how to bake tasty and nutritious food without yeast, wheat or gluten.

Reviews

‘What an important book; passionate and polemical and full of truth. The chapter too on gluten-free baking is original and inspiring’Bee Wilson

‘This will be the most important book on baking since the publication of Elizabeth David’s “English Bread and Yeast Cookery”’ Rose Prince

'A superb and necessary new book' The Sunday Telegraph

'Every bit as feisty as the title implies…a good sense book that includes recipes for sour-dough and gluten-free baking' The Independent

About the author

Andrew Whitley is a leading authority on organic baking and food issues. After studying Russian at Sussex and Moscow, he joined the BBC Russian Service, where he made programmes about the emerging 'environmental crisis'. He left London in 1976 to grow his own food on an organic smallholding in Cumbria, and went on to found The Village Bakery, which has won a string of awards, culminating in the Organic Trophy. Andrew has been an occasional contributor to the Radio 4 Food Programme and has written on bread and related matters for specialist journals. He is chair of the Soil Association's Processing Standards Committee and a trustee of Voluntary Action Cumbria, the local Rural Community Council in Cumbria.