Croker Issy - The Weekend Baker

TO MY SON JOSH

MICHAEL JOSEPH

UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia
India | New Zealand | South Africa

Michael Joseph is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

First published 2016

Text copyright Paul Hollywood, 2016
Photography copyright Issy Croker, 2016
Additional photography copyright Dunk Barnes/Reef TV Ltd, 2016 and as follows: rusm/Getty Images

The Casatiello recipe is taken from Passione by Gennaro Contaldo; copyright Gennaro Contaldo, 2003; reproduced by permission of the Headline Publishing Group.

The moral right of the copyright holders has been asserted

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-718-18402-5

FOR ME, LOOKING AT IT IN ITS SIMPLEST FORM, OUR CULTURES ARE COMPLETELY BASED ON BAKING, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.FLOUR IS THE UNIFYING FACTORTHE BASE FOOD IN SO MANY CULTURES.

I have wanted to write this book for a long time. It sees me discovering baking cultures of the world in ten of its most amazing cities, some of which Id never been to before or didnt know a great deal about. So it was a chance for me to take a few weekend breaks and just explore. I wasnt sure what each place would offer me in terms of exciting discoveries, but the experience will stay with me for ever.

I have been around baking all my life and what these trips and this journey gave back to me was a huge slice of passion for what I do. Im not saying that I had forgotten things or techniques, but it opened my eyes to just how important baking is to people all over the world, from Cubans in Miami a relatively new city to those who love a traditional British afternoon tea; from the third and fourth generations of family-run bakeries in Poland to the migrants who settled in the USA and developed a new style of baking unique to New York (with a nod to their places of origin). And then theres Copenhagen Ive made so many Danish pastries over the years, so to travel to where they celebrate them more than anywhere else in the world was just amazing. They produce some of the best Danish pastries Ive ever tasted, giving them twists like adding wholemeal flour to the dough. Id never tried this before, but it tastes so much better.

For me, looking at it in its simplest form, our cultures are completely based on baking, and you can see that throughout the world. Flour is the unifying factor the base food in so many cultures. Even in those places that I thought would be so different from the UK, like Russia. Have a look at the beautiful design of the Russian pies . The presentation might be very different, but the beef pie is basically a massive sausage roll and it took me straight back to Britain when I tasted it.

Throughout my career, I always used the word pizza flippantly until I met Enzo Coccia in Naples. I honestly learnt more in an afternoon with him then I have in the last 49 years of eating pizza. Before I went, I thought I knew how to make pizza, but listening to Enzo I realised I didnt. He signed a book to me and called me pizzaiolo, which means novice pizza-maker, on the bottom rung of a huge ladder; and there was me thinking I was a pizza-maker already...

One of the things that was really fascinating for me on these trips was meeting people from all over the world who share my passion for baking. Like Jim Lahey in New York, who has developed a style of baking that has made him an internet success the no-knead bread. I dont want to hear any of those I havent got the time excuses any more! His method blows all of that out of the water and it means you can easily make bread at home, whether you are time-poor or not. Have a look .

Meeting people like Jim, who love their job and carry a torch for baking, was definitely a high point for me. Ive kept in touch with all of the people I met and am definitely going to return to several of the places this year to visit them again. Im currently thinking of more cities Id like to visit to expand my knowledge of baking even further, and I look forward to meeting the bakers who are carving out some truly unique bakes.

All the cities I visited in this book are very easy to get to. The furthest away is Miami (9 hours on a plane), but some are only an hour away. If you have a spare weekend and want to check out some of these places, then take the book and do it. I loved the energy and vibe in Miami an energy I hadnt seen before, coming from a whole mix of cultures where they have created their own baking repertoire. New York is 6 hours by plane, or a very long swim. They dont call it the Big Apple for nothing; it is a massive place. But dig a bit deeper and you will find little local bakeries on the corners serving some of the best things youll ever eat. Dont let Russia scare you. Some of the stereotypes are true (yes, they do all drive Ladas!) but St Petersburg is, without a doubt, the prettiest place Ive ever been to in my life. Three hours away on a plane youll adore it. The people, the place and the bakes are all very special. A quick jaunt across the Channel to Paris, the chic home of the croissant and baguette, is another perfect place for a weekend break to discover some weekend bakes.

What I think is interesting is that there are about twenty base recipes, in my view, that have branched out across the world, and all baking stems from them. Look at fruit cake, for instance. The idea of putting fruit into something you bake has been around for thousands of years and different countries have different ways of making or serving it. Add yeast to it and it becomes a risen dough, whether a hot cross bun or afternoon teacake in Britain, a risen fruit bread in France or a dumpling in Poland.

When it comes to the recipes in this book, dont be scared of them because of how many stages they have or how complicated they look. Each stage is easily broken down so you can take your time. There are some simpler recipes for you to try first and some more challenging ones for you to move on to. Its like making a casserole that takes a long time to cook but only minutes to prepare. So please dont look at the prove time and think, Im not doing it as its 24 hours work. Its not! The recipes are very quick to prepare and, at the end, youll have made something very special because youve given it the time it needs to prove or do its thing properly. Overall, I would say dont try to change or upscale the recipes from the off. Master them first and then you can bring your own tweaks into play, like if you want more fruit or cheese or meat then do it, but master my way first walk before you can run.