"The secret to making a foolproof, nearly labor-free loaf that tastes as delicious as anything from a baker..... [Lahey] is the most intuitive bread baker I have ever met." Vogue
When he wrote about Jim Lahey's bread in the New York Times, Mark Bittman's excitement was palpable: "The loaf is incredible, a fine-bakery quality, European-style boule that is produced more easily than by any other technique I've used, and it will blow your mind." Here, thanks to Jim Lahey, New York's premier baker, is a way to make bread at home that doesn't rely on a fancy bread machine or complicated kneading techniques. The secret to Jim Lahey's bread is slow-rise fermentation. As Jim shows in My Bread, with step-by-step instructions followed by step-by-step pictures, the amount of labor you put in amounts to 5 minutes: mix water, flour, yeast, and salt, and then let time work its magic-no kneading necessary. The process couldn't be more simple, or the results more inspiring. Here-finally-Jim Lahey gives us a cookbook that enables us to fit quality bread into our lives at home.
Jim Lahey studied sculpting at SUNY Stonybrook and the School of Visual Arts but soon headed off to Italy to work with bakers in northeastern and central Italy. He opened the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City in 1994; the bakery has since moved farther uptown to Manhattan's west side. His new pizza restaurant, Co., opened in Manhattan in early 2009. He has received two James Beard Awards and is the author of My Bread and My Pizza. He lives in New York City with his wife and coauthor, Maya Joseph. Rick Flaste served as the editor of the New York Times Dining Section at its inception, creating many of its acclaimed features. He has collaborated on numerous cookbooks and books.