SethG

I think that would taste great. Or you could top with poppy seeds instead of sesame, or any number of things.

Stovetop, I don't speak for Steve-- and I disagree with some of the things he's said in this thread-- but I think it's pretty obvious he's been talking about bread that's available for purchase. Anyone, anywhere can make world-class bread at home with the right flour, water, and just a couple pieces of equipment (a hot stove and a stone). I don't think Steve would disagree. Edit: and salt and leavening, of course. This list is not all-inclusive.

I'm sure I don't have the experience that you (and others) have in France, and the bread certainly suffered a decline (which my wife and I were shocked by when we visited Southwest France last year). But I think you overstate the devastation. It takes nothing away from the supreme achievements of the artisanal bread movement in the U.S. to say that France is a country that has an ingrained bread culture the U.S.A. can only hope to have some day.

Those babas look great, Dahome. Here's my ka'kat: These are super easy and they taste like nice little slightly sweet dinner rolls. I keep going back and forth on whether I can taste any mahleb or not.

Steve, if I read you correctly to suggest that Pain a l'Ancienne baguettes get their depth of flavor from a sourdough method, then I think you're mistaken. I believe these breads are so special because of a delayed fermentation technique; the ingredients are mixed cold and then refrigerated, allowing the development of certain sugars before the (commercial) yeast is allowed to act on the dough at all. At any rate, I think the debate about whether sourdough or French baguettes are better is a silly enterprise. It's like asking whether Bordeaux or Burgundy is better. The answer depends on your preference, on whether you want to consume the product by itself or with other foods, and on what those foods are. Personally, I hope I always have the option of choosing either one. The original question in this thread remains. Why are baguettes better in France than in the U.S.A? In general, I think most people who've had both would have to agree that they are better in France, or in Paris at least. I can think of more than one book in which I've seen some authority or other say "I never thought a true French baguette was possible in the U.S. until I visited so-and-so..." The point being that while you may find the occasional spectacular baguette in the U.S., it isn't as frequent as in Paris. The flour probably has something to do with it, but I suspect it's mostly that the French are just steeped in the tradition that created these breads.

I can't seem to fillet a fish (or handle a cooked fillet of fish) without losing a bunch o' chunks. By the way, on the subject of pie crust, I'm a pie newbie but I've had good luck with Rose Levy Beranbaum's cream cheese crust from The Pie And Pastry Bible (eGullet credit link). Her directions are beyond detailed.

Images: how was your trip?

That's the spirit, people! I just secured a source for mahleb myself. This will only make sense to New Yorkers, but I'm not the only one here, right? I was sure Sahadi's Importing Co. in Brooklyn would carry it, but they don't. But then I spoke to the nice woman at D'Vine Taste on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope and she said she'd get me some for tomorrow, and keep the rest for herself! By the way, I believe ka'kat is a Polish Easter tradition, but I could be wrong about that.

Okay, last week I spun the group into total inaction by repeatedly seeking consensus among a variety of choices. This week, I will follow the principle I usually use in suggesting what we do: we should do whatever was first proposed. Therefore: we should make ka'kat. Looks fun and different. Who's in?

I'm not a Christian, a Pole, or an expert on Christians or Poles. I know the babka as a different (and tasty!) coffee cake, often in my experience also containing chocolate-- the confusion (if any) resulted from the fact that the word babka is derived from the Polish "baba," which in addition to referring to Ali Baba also means grandmother or old woman. If you look for baba or babka recipes on the web you'll find both words used to describe babkas. When I said I thought baba was an Easter bread I was recalling some Google results I had in which Easter and baba were connected-- some of these were rum cake babas, though. Maybe babas and babkas are cousins, derived from the same tradition? Or maybe I was just wrong.

I think the only Easter-themed recipe in the book happens to be... the babas, actually. I believe these are a Polish Easter tradition. By the way, Ling, babas are little celebration cakes, enriched with butter and egg and dark rum. The version in BWJ also includes an injection of pastry cream, but I don't think that's traditional. I happened to be looking at the King Arthur (eGullet credit link) book that came out last year, and it includes a few Easter breads as well: Poticza, a Slovakian bread featuring alternating layers of dough and sugar/nut filling. It looks fun to make-- the nuts get placed onto sheets of dough, which are then rolled up and combined into a loaf. There's also a recipe for Italian Easter pie, which features two layers of sweetened pizza dough sandwiching a savory filling of eggs, ham, ricotta, Parmesan, and parsley. Its flavor profile seems almost identical to the Pizza Rustica some of us here made a few weeks ago. Peter Reinhart also has a recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice (eGullet credit link) for a Greek Easter bread called Lambropsomo, which includes some spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves) and dried fruits/nuts (raisins, apricots, almonds). The loaf is braided like a challah and includes three hard-cooked eggs, dyed red, to be nestled into the braids! I'm not necessarily proposing these breads for the group-- I just thought they were all interesting and festive. If a lot of folks wanted to do one of them I could PM some recipes around. I also like all three of Kirsten's suggestions.

Gosh, I'm sorry to hear about you experience, foodie3. I've tried only a couple of the easy direct method breads from the Field book so far but I've enjoyed them very much. I'm tempted to reduce the salt in the croc bread when I make it this week, but I think I'll try it as written and let you know if I agree with you. adrober: the main thing you should take from your experience is that you've made a starter that is capable of raising bread. This is a major victory; many people never get there! Speaking as someone who's just recently (after a few failures) made a successful starter myself, I'm thrilled for you. And I'm all for a thread in which we bread newbies show off our loaves and share advice/recipes.

Thank you-- I was thinking I'd make the baba (or whatever) later, during the week. I think Dhomechef and Rhea were also interested in the babas-- but I don't know if anyone is actually doing them. Your petit fours (and other breads, too) look great! I missed your proposal of the petit fours the other day. We could have done those together, as it were. I'm not really wedded to anything, but this weekend seems to have passed without much of a group consensus. So I'm just going to take charge and say that this weekend (the one that's almost over) the project was the baba. I'm going to catch up on it later in the week. As for next weekend, April 10-11, let's hear a proposal!

So, I just found out my Mom has been lurking around the site. Mom, I still love you, and I know it's not your fault. You didn't marry her. OK? This kills me. Are you forgiven, Clothier? And another question. My aunt uses the same shank bone for her Seder plate every year. She has some story about how she had to twist some butcher's arm in order to get it. She's kept it in the freezer for decades. It emerges every year, looking... not bad, actually. Is this a common practice in any of your families?

So I made the matzoh from BWJ: These were a lot of fun to make and taste really great, too! Very crisp, unlike even the "artisanal" matzoh I've had. Is anyone baking anything from the book this weekend (i.e., now)? Are we skipping a week? It seems like nothing really gained any traction. I'm still up for babas later in the week. Or something else.

I was most interested in the babas, proposed by Dahomechef, but I don't think we ever got any real consensus. If we do them, I'm likely to wait until mid-week, when my usual Passover bread capitulation occurs. Thanks, Dorie, for your response and participation here!

Here's my pear galette, finally. Tasted a lot like your average strudel. somehow messed up the rolling, big time. I ended up pasting back on a whole section of dough. This dough is forgiving, so that's okay.

Click: The Italian Baker. I think this is a proper eGullet-gets-credit link. I think you're right about RLB, Dahome. And when I said there's lots of good stuff in the book, Devlin, I meant the reference stuff about how bread works, the conversion charts, and some of the recipes, to be sure. But I don't think someone of your level of experience will get that much from it. It's more for beginners like me. As for Reinhart, I've been working with him a lot lately, and I think he's become my guru. I love the guy's later works. I'm glad he dropped the philosophy/religion/hippie stuff that's all over the earlier books. I don't know why you haven't gotten good results, but I'm sure it isn't because you're no good. Keep trying! Back to this thread: I still owe you a galette. I'm making the dough tonight, I promise.

I too have been considering the Illy deal. One of the things that appeals to me about it is that you don't need to worry about using the pods by any particular date, so you can stockpile the pods and just use them when you need to be quick about making your espresso. Or you can just use the machine occasionally, using the pods every time, and your initial investment can carry you for a long time. The pods will stay fresh a long time, right? Am I wrong about that?

I picked up the Field book at a used book store on your recommendation, Devlin. I'm making olive bread today but that crocodile bread will be a part of my future, I just know it. And by the way, I checked the Bread Bible out of the library a while ago. I posted my thoughts about it here. I may have been too harsh. The book has a ton of useful info in it. I may end up buying it after all.

Funny that this has been moved to General Food Topics--- pause while I quickly review the User Agreement-- a move to which I have no objection whatsoever! I do want to note, though, that my question as posed was about cooking. The topic has become General because people can't seem to help themselves.

Thanks, everyone.

The Kipper and The Corpse. One of my favorites.

I know this guy had legal troubles, and I couldn't care less what anybody has to say about them. My question is whether his books are worth reading. I remember him as one of the biggest food celebrities of the 1980s. But I never seem to see any comments here at eGullet saying that this or that work of his is really worthwhile. I see lots of his books at used book stores here in NYC, but I've never been tempted to pick one up. Was this guy any good? Was he an inspiration to anybody here? Or was he fine for his time, but irrelevant today?

Dorie, I for one would love to hear more stories like these, if you don't mind tellling them to us! Were there any bakers in particular you really wanted who never made it to Julia's house? I've also wondered a few times if you were surprised or taken aback by any particular baker's method of doing something. Were there any recipes that you would have done completely differently if the project had been yours alone? And were you then pleasantly surprised by the results? Or were there any recipes that you did change a lot to conform to your own ways of doing things? Just curious. I don't want to smother you with questions-- but if you don't mind, I'm sure the folks participating here would be very interested in whatever you'd have to say.