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Average customer rating:

Not Bad, Not Good
A great author and a great book
Visit one of the best Italian kitchens without leaving yours
Great Bread
The only bread book you really need

The Il Fornaio Baking Book: Sweet and Savory Recipes from the Italian Kitchen
Franco Galli
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 081183297X

Book Description

Now available in paperback, the acclaimed Il Fornaio Baking Book celebrates the Italian culinary legacy of both staunch traditionalism and irrepressible innovation. Over 70 classic and inventive recipes from the kitchens of Il Fornaio's renowned bakeries, restaurants, and cafes are interwoven with author Franco Galli's heart-warming family memories and fascinating pieces of lore. Find traditional and specialty breads, pizza, focaccia, and other savory dishes as well as a temptingly sweet selection of biscotti, cakes, and tarts--all with easy-to-follow recipes. Generously illustrated with hand-toned photographs, this great book--at a great new value--is perfect for anyone with a passion for baking. Franco Galli started his career as a baker's apprentice in northern Italy at the age of ten. He came to the United States in 1979, where he developed menus for several well-known California restaurants before joining San Francisco-based Il Fornaio America in 1987.

Customer Reviews:

Not Bad, Not Good.......2005-03-01

I live in the San Francisco-Bay Area, where Il Fornaio is a legendary chain of Italian bakeries where you can get fabulous bread. Unfortunately, this book is not as good as the bread.

The highlight of the book is the bread in the first chapter, but I note the following deficiencies:
1) The recipes for Pagnotta, ciabatta, pane toscano, and sfilatano (which all use the same dough) are not the ones I have eaten from the bakery.
2) biga acida isn't. Their recipe may work in commercial bakeries that are laden with yeast spores in the air, but in a home kitchen that has never made bread, all you will get is moldy flour batter.
3) all breads are kneaded and proofed in exactly the same time; I doubt that this is correct, since this will vary with the hydration level of the dough.
4) The instructions call fo 20 + 5 minutes of manual kneading, and this is not correct. When I did it, they required a mere 10 minutes.
5) the author commits the baker's sin of not specifying flour amounts by weights.
6) when I did them, the rather informal nature of the recipes bothered me, as I was not sure that an amateur who has never made bread before will have success with them.
7) when placing dough into the oven, all the recipes inveigh "with a rythmic snap of the wrist". Problem is, the author never fully explains what this means.
8) I have similar complaints about the chapters on special breads, little breads, and pizzas.

On the good side, the bread dough make-up instructions use kneading by hand, and not a mixer. The recipe selection for the traditional bread chapter is very good, as it has all of the really popular ones that you would want. On the other hand, the informal and friendly nature of the instructions will encourage more people to try them, and this is a good thing.

I have not really gone through the recipes in the last 2 chapters on cookies or sweets. The recipe count is rather low - 13 and 16 respectively - but the recipes are the popular ones you will most want to do. The problem here is that the instructions are rather informal. The procedures for Torta D'Alassio (like a Sacher torte that uses the modified creaming method and hazelnuts) and Pasta Frollo (tart dough) are not easy to do correctly, but the recipes are casually tossed off in a couple of brief sentences, in the same space it uses to describe how to do garlic toast. You will also need a hand-held electric mixer; no alternatives are provided.

The book suffers from side-bar mania. Brief stories or helpful hints are in small, italicized type in side-bars that are of dark, brown color; they are difficult to read, even if the lighting at your reading table is very good.

It has chapters on traditional breads, special breads, little breads, pizza, leftover bread recipes, cookies, sweets.

A great author and a great book.......2001-08-25

Trust me when I say that franco galli is a master chief in the kitchen and the recipes in this book ar no different from the ones he uses in the kitchen. Not only does the book give your great recipes, but tells you how each recipe relate to his life, and it's all true.I recomend everyone buy it who is interested in Italian cooking, or baking, or cooking in general.

Visit one of the best Italian kitchens without leaving yours.......2001-07-21

For anyone that has had the opportunity to visit one of their restaurants, now you can enjoy their baked goods at home. All of their receipes are fairly easy to follow and follow you must! These dishes are a lot like a science project. mix the wrong item or quantity and it is all over. Follow closely and you will be rewarded with some of the finest breads and desserts around. The Tiramisu receipe is one of the best around. I have served it several times and it is a party favorite. I have tried countless other receipes and found this one the best their is. The soups can make a complete meal in themselves. Buy this book and you won't regret it.

Great Bread.......2001-01-17

The recipes in this book are described so well that even a novice baker will turn out world class loaves of bread. All through my college years I worked in a Pizza restaurant. I made pizza dough by following the directions on the 25lb bag of pizza flour. That had been my only baking experinece, but after deciding to attempt baking bread at home, I bought this book. My first loaf turned out better than anything I could buy at a supermarket.

The only bread book you really need.......2000-02-20

I use this book on a weekly basis. The formulas are relatively easy to use, and you end up with flavorful crusty loaves of bread. The pizza dough recipe is the best I have found. I have tried other books, with varying degrees of success, but this book is always helpful. The hardest thing to remember to make the starter ahead of time. I have found that most of the recipes can be adjusted successfully if you want a higher whole grain content or you wish to add other flavoring ingredients (ie roasted garlic or sundried tomatoes).

Average customer rating:

Il Fornaio Baking Book Sweet & Savory
Franco Galli
Manufacturer: CHRONICLE BOOKS @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SHA47Y

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