{"product_id":"the-italian-baker","title":"The Italian Baker","description":"\u003cp\u003eBread in Italy is rough country loaves with thick chewy crusts and flat disks of focaccia seasoned with the wild herbs of the fields. It is celebratory sweet holiday breads dense with fat raisins  toasted nuts and candied fruit peels. It is \"new wave\" wave\" breads  recently invented by artisan bakers and studded with roasted peppers  sun. dried tomatoes and salty olive paste. It is imaginative multi-grain breads and rolls with tastes and shapes that vary dramatically from region to region. Recipes for the breads of all these regions  for the comforting rustic soups and salads and appetizers based on them  for breadsticks and rolls  pizza and focaccia  for holiday specialties  for pastries  cookies  cornetti and nut tortes  fruit tarts  cheesecakes and spice cakes and other confections-all are offered in this landmark volume which presents  for the first time in English or Italian  the diverse baking traditions of Italy. Knowing these regional specialties and the stories behind them is like taking a trip through the Italian countryside. Putting the recipes on paper as Carol Field has done is like preserving the villages in the Italian hillsides with their churches and frescoes  for they are part of a tradition that has never before been recorded. In preparing for this book  Carol Field spent two years working with the bakers of Italy  traversing the country again and again from Lugano and Como in the north to Lecce and Palermo in the south  tasting and testing  then going back to the States to rework the recipes in an American kitchen with American ingredients. The result is recipes that are impeccably written for utmost ease and flexibility. Some are simple and earthy  some elegant and refined  but all will be a revelation to Americans who have previously known Italian breads and desserts only from the limited and stereotyped range available until now. Each recipe offers instructions for making doughs by hand  by electric mixer  and by food processor. Illustrations provide clear step-by-step how-to  and chapters on ingredients  equipment and technique reveal all the whys and wherefores.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44986345455669,"sku":"ByrdShop_0061812668","price":29.06,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780061812668.jpg?v=1770896955","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-italian-baker","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}