Breaking Bread

A Baker's Journey Home in 75 Recipes

By Martin Philip

Yearning for creative connection, Martin Philip traded his New York City finance career for an entry-level baker's position in rural Vermont, eventually working his way up to head bread baker at King Arthur Flour. As he quickly learned, to be a true baker is to be an alchemist, transforming flour, salt, water, and yeast into an elegant expression of the soul.

From the butter biscuits and whiskey bread pudding of Philip's Ozarks roots to the French baguettes and Kvassmiche of his present, Breaking Bread weaves together seventy-five original recipes with the incandescently narrated life stories of a Renaissance man turned bread shaman. With recipes that guide novices while challenging advanced bakers, Philip also provides a substantial technical section covering the bread-making process, with its tools and ingredients. 

Breaking Bread illuminates an artisan's odyssey, and readers will come to see baking as Philip does: as a spiritual connection to our pasts, families, cultures, communities, and, ultimately, ourselves.