Weber - Della Fattoria Bread

Kathleen Weber

with Amy Albert & Amy Vogler
Photographs by Ed Anderson

Foreword by Thomas Keller

, courtesy of Adam Cohen.

Foreword copyright 2014 by Thomas Keller

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher.

Published by Artisan
A division of Workman Publishing
Company, Inc.
225 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014-4381
artisanbooks.com

Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son, Limited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

eISBN: 9781579656416

To my husband, Ed, and my children, Elisa and Aaron,

who were always willing participants in my escapades

And to my Della Fattoria family of bakers,

past and present, who have always worked so hard to make the best bread every day

By Thomas Keller

In 1995, about a year after taking over The French Laundry, I started hearing rumblings about a local baker. She was baking bread in a wood-burning oven outside the kitchen door of a family-run ranch in nearby Petaluma. Through the server at our restaurant who first told me about the bread, I asked for a sample.

A few weeks later, on a scorching Yountville summer day, a couple pulled up to The French Laundry in a worn 78 Volvo sedan. Kathleen Weber was holding a bread basket filled with loaves of pain de campagne and pain au levain. She and her husband, Ed, introduced themselves, and I took them on an impromptu tour of the kitchen. We talked about wild yeast and the importance of quality ingredients. We also spoke about their elemental approach to their craft, how they baked their hand-shaped loaves directly on the hearth. I tasted what theyd brought. It was some of the best bread Id ever tried. We didnt know it then, but breaking bread together marked the start of a beautiful friendship.

That summer, I ordered five loaves a day (a custom btard shape rather than a boule). We became the Webers first fine-dining customer, and a business relationship formed, one that continued for the next eight years. The recipe for pain de campagne dough appears in this book, along with a number of variations, from pumpkin seed and olive to chocolate cherry and Meyer lemonrosemary. As both our ventures grew, the number of wood-burning ovens and the number of loaves produced increased, until I opened Bouchon Bakery to address the growing needs of The French Laundry and Bouchon Bistro.

During those early years, in the spirit of preserving artisanal tradition, Kathleen and I worked together on developing breadsfrom a seeded whole wheat reminiscent of a bread I first tasted as a young chef in New York City to a walnut baguette that Kathleen wrapped in craft paper as only a true boulangre would. We also tested with mini loaf pans in various shapes. The process was always experimental and convivial, and together we learned from our successes and failures.

As Kathleen told me later, every evening in those early years, Ed would stoke the fire in their lone oven (which he had built for Kathleens birthday) so she could work into the night. When she learned that well-known personages in the culinary world were dining at The French Laundry, she began to bake with even greater intention, knowing that a gourmand she admired might be enjoying her bread the next day. That commitment to craft lives on in the Webers son, Aaron, who worked for us at The French Laundry before joining Della Fattoria, the family business.

I believe chefs have a responsibility to make a positive impact, in part by supporting the people around them. That has been a guiding goal since I opened my first restaurantto help the fishermen and farmers, foragers and gardeners, and, in this case, suppliers whose work is so closely intertwined with mine. I know that what they do enriches what we do, and ensures that our guests enjoy memorable experiences. Kathleen and Ed set out with a great idea and a superior product. The small boost we gave them was the least we could do.

In Della Fattoria Bread, youll learn how to make many of the breads Kathleen serves at her bakery and youll also find unique and personal recipes such as Grape-Harvest Levain Boule and Weber Family Pizza. But this book is much more than an instructional guide. It is filled with invaluable bread-baking techniques, including starters, along with important information on baking equipment and proper technique. Reading it, youll see what I have seen throughout the years. Youll come to appreciate Kathleens fearlessness, a fearlessness that will give you courage to take risks yourself. Kathleen is a baker, but, as she says, she thinks like a cook, drawing on her senses and her experiences in what you might describe as her strategic but instinctive approach to baking bread. Her teachings will rub off on you, informing your decisions as you cook and bake.

Bread. Is there any food richer in symbolism? At once simple but essential, it is, in many ways, like friendship. Kathleen puts it slightly differently: Bread is our boss, she says, our art form and our way of life.

And what a life it is.

THOMAS KELLER,
The French Laundry

Bread Fever

The hiss of bakers feet skating over flour-covered floors. The clap and scrape of wooden peels against the oven floor. The calls of Load up, Doors off, and Behind you! Our ten bakers are scrambling in a space too small to produce more than a thousand loaves of bread, using an oven that, as the bake progresses, cannot be reheated. Its Friday, our busiest day of the week. Our mixer is Lindsey; at five foot two and ninety-five pounds, shes all brains, muscle, and observation. She doesnt miss a thing. She always has a smile, and she loves her dough. She arrives at 6 A.M. to mix, transfer, and fold more than two thousand pounds of it! The rest of the crew starts arriving at 10 A.M. to begin shaping. All these people are smart, really smart: they love to bake, and they love each other.

Isaac is not only a master baker, he is also a master teacher and a team builder. Emerson is our Zen guy. He knows his bread, and he has an energy about him that is steady, focused, and calming. Rachel, full of drama, rolls in on her bike, greets the dogs, and then, shoulders squared, tackles the shaping. Lorenzo, our brainy social director and political commentator, gives his bread the importance it deserves. He is funny and keeps us laughing. Betty, another tiny but mighty one, works with the speed of a machine. She has been with us for many years, and her daughter, like our grandsons, grew up in the bakery. Wesley is long and willowy, and she always knows whats happening everywhere in the room. I know I can count on her. Chad, our math brain, is a little shy. You might mistake him for someone very serious because he is always concentrating, but then his sense of humor will surprise you. Marguerite is Lorenzos cousin, full of energy and efficiency and always with a smile on her face. Unless its freezing outside, she arrives in her running shorts ready to move! Charlie, tall and handsome, didnt bake before he came to us, but he was sure that was what he wanted to do. Driven by passion and with an easygoing personality and natural leadership qualities, he quickly became an invaluable member of our team. If it sounds like I love these people, I do. They are my dream crew.