Confessions of a French Baker

In Cavillon, Peter Mayle wrote in A Year in Provence, we had been told that one bakery was ahead of all the rest in terms of choice and excellence. At Chez Auzet, so they said, the baking and eating of breads had been elevated to the status of a minor religion. Now--several thousand visits later--Mayle has teamed up with Gerard Auzet, the proprietor of this most glorious of Provencal bakeries, to reveal the finest art of bread-making. Mayle takes us into the bakery's kitchen, where we watch the master at work; slapping rolling, squeezing, folding, twisting dough into culinary masterpieces. Auzet offers precise, thorough instructions for 14 kinds of bread, including the basic baguette and breads made with bacon, with apricots and hazelnuts, with garlic, and with green and black olives. The recipes are beautifully illustrated, and there are notes galore on technique, infredients, and tricks of the trade. Along the way, Mayle relates the colorful Auzet family history--four generations of bakers--and in his inimitable fashion, describes moments of Auzetian gustatory delight. Here is another charming guide to the pleasures of Provence from Peter Mayle that is, as well, a practical and delightful guide to the rich pleasures of the humble loaf.