Tartine: A Classic Revisited

Tartine: A Classic Revisited is a beautifully photographed love letter to high end patisserie for the home kitchen. Released 1st Oct 2019 by Chronicle, it's 328 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats. This is an updated and re-photographed extended version of the 2006 original with ~50% more content than the original.

These are lovely, many are challenging (what I think of as 'free weekend' baking), but many are perfectly achievable in the everyday home kitchen. The scones, for example, are my new standard go-to recipes for those baking days. I liked that the authors provide a wealth of tips and tricks for getting consistently good results and troubleshooting less-than-desirable occurrences.  I loved that nothing seemed beyond the scope of inclusion; I never thought that English muffins were anywhere close to achievable outside of a commercial bakery, but these are good. (Note: the recipe calls for 510g of bread flour, I needed considerably more to get a workable dough).

The book is arranged in a logical accessible format: breakfast fare followed by tarts pies and fruits, glorious cakes, cookies, pastries, holiday baking, and a nice smattering of generalized recipes for things like basic dough, creams, sauces, and puddings. It also includes a cross referenced index. Rounding out the book is the best essay I've ever seen on grain processing and flour composition. The die-hard lab geek in me was in awe.  I'm not anywhere close to being a baker or really even a serious foodie, but it struck me as odd that I had never really considered the composition of one of the most basic and ubiquitous of ingredients before.

This is a good cookbook with a nice spread of recipes from the very basic to the gloriously complex. Most of the ingredients are easily sourced and familiar. All recipes have ingredients given in both US and metric measurements. The step by step directions are clear and easy to follow.

I really liked the informal and inviting text and the asides sprinkled throughout. In the introduction to the Lemon Meringue Cake recipe (p. 155) for example, the authors talk about the evolution of their cakes and other desserts toward less sweet presentations. They provide parallel measurements for the sweeter version as well. Many of the recipes include kitchen notes and tips. Nearly all are photographed clearly and well.

This is a solid reference and classic presentation. Five stars. Superlative.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.