Author Ken Forkish gave up a 20-year career in Silicon Valley to become a baker. In 2001, he opened a bakery in Portland, Ore., followed by a pizza place in 2006.
Now Forkish shares his secrets for making crusty loaves of bread and thin crispy pizzas in the 265-page Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza (Ten Speed Press, $35).
Rich with scientific explanations, it will appeal to the cook who takes an engineer’s approach in the kitchen. Beyond recipes for loaves of whole wheat and pain de campagne, Forkish offers intriguing techniques for making a pizza in an iron skillet and a bake-and-broil method using a pizza stone.
— The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
