In Search of the Perfect Loafis a must-read for a new generation of baker and anyone who loves handmade bread.

Winner of the International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Literary Food Writing.
In 2009, journalist and home baker Samuel Fromartz was offered the assignment of a lifetime- to travel to France to work in a boulangerie. So began his four-year quest across the United States and Europe to hone not just his baguette baking, but also his knowledge of bread, from seed to table.

The result is a fascinating personal account of the history, science, and production of bread - from sourdough in California to whole grain rye in Berlin and country wheat in the south of France - presented along with Fromartz’s own tips and recipes for baking professional-quality loaves in an ordinary home oven. Impeccably researched and wonderfully entertaining, In Search of the Perfect Loaf is a must-read for a new generation of baker and anyone who loves handmade bread.
‘If you love great bread, you will love this book! From Paris, to Berlin, to Marienthal, Kansas, we follow Sam on his quest as he shares his love for bread and the 'baking secrets’ he learned along the way.‘ Daniel Leader, founder of Bread Alone Bakery and author of Bread Alone
’ An engaging and informative book … about, among many things, the return of artisan baking in France and its rise in the United States, the cultivation of wheat here and abroad, the magic and mystery of sourdough starters, and by no means least, the education of a baker.‘The Washington Post

'This is no mere cookbook, but a journey … . Fromartz’s evolution lays out a compelling path for anyone with flour, water, salt, and yeast and an appetite for the perfect loaf of bread.’ Minneapolis Star Tribune