Eric Treuille's guide to bread-making makes the art accessible to the home cook. He has included over 100 recipes from all over the world and graphically demonstrates the techniques required in a series of step-by-step photographs.

Take one French food authority and author, one Italian food authority and author, give them a subject like bread and a publisher like Britain's Dorling Kindersley, and the result can't help but be one of the more engaging books on bread and bread baking. DK Publishing is of the seeing-is-believing school of cookbooks, and this philosophy works particularly well in their Ultimate Bread. The opening plates of the world of bread are enough in and of themselves to drive anyone--beginner or expert baker--right into the kitchen.

The "Baking Essentials" section shows and explains the differences in various kinds of flour, wheat and nonwheat, as well as the basic ingredients (yeast, oil, eggs, salt--not a long list) and tools. The "Basic Techniques" section shows you exactly what dough should look like in the various stages of bread production. The photos are so thick with color you can almost touch and smell the dough.

But the majority of the book is dedicated to recipes. Here you will find Country Oatmeal Bread, French Baguettes, Pretzels, Ciabatta, Pain aux Noix, Brioche, Nan, Pita, Corn Bread, and Challah. There are dozens of breads in all, from the very basic to the festive. And finally, there's even a section devoted to problem solving--although the biggest problem you may have is deciding which recipe to start with.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Schuyler Ingle

Combine DK's gorgeous visuals with two authors skilled in the art of breadmaking, and you have the perfect book for anyone who has ever been afraid to try baking bread. Treuille, who coauthored Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques (Murdoch, 1997), and Ferrigno, whose last cookbook was Pizza, Pasta, and Polenta (Merehurst, 1995), begin with fundamentals such as essential ingredients and equipment before turning to basic techniques such as kneading and using a starter. Recipes for more than 100 different kinds of breads, including quick, flat, and festive breads, are offered. Each recipe has clear, precise step-by-step instructions with both metric and nonmetric measurements and time estimates. While there is no shortage of bread books to choose from, including The Book of Bread (LJ 1/97), which focuses solely on the history of bread, Ultimate Bread is an essential choice for all public libraries and any academic library with an interest in the baking arts.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ

ERIC TREUILLE has a Frenchman's almost religious allegiance to baking. He completed his culinary studies in Paris, began his career as a chef in London, and has cooked professionally in Sweden, New York, and California. Treuille has worked as a food stylist, including work on several of the successful DK Look and Cook titles by Anne Willan, and the Cordon Bleu Cooking School. He also co-authored The Complete Guide to Cooking Techniques, which was nominated for a James Beard Award. Treuille continues to proselytize the importance of bread during his classes in "hands-on" breadmaking. URSULA FERRIGNO runs "Flavors of the Land," a residential cooking course in Italy, where she teaches classes on breadmaking-her principal culinary interest. Born in Southern Italy, she was raised on her father's vegetable and olive-oil producing farm. .

She is the author of four critically acclaimed books.

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