n The Bread Exchange, by Malin Elmlid, Chronicle Books, 240 pages, $42.
There is something intrinsically natural about sharing bread.
Fresh from the oven, its aroma welcomes you into the kitchen no matter what time of year. It is a food enjoyed around the world, with local variations adding interesting tastes and textures.
For author Malin Elmlid it all began with the quest for the perfect loaf of bread. Having travelled extensively and sampled bread in many cities, she was surprised how difficult it was to find a great white sourdough loaf in her native Berlin.
So she began baking and experimenting until finally she was able to bake bread that measured up to her expectations. All her baking produced more than she could consume and she gave loaves away to friends, many of which were also passed along.
The notion of giving with no expectation of receiving led to new connections and experiences. As this network of bread lovers expanded, Elmlid began to post photos and comments on a blog she named TheBreadExchange.com. Soon a legion of bread-traders were connecting through the blog and exchanging all manner of things.
Elmlid fills the pages of this book with recipes and bread-making tips, but this is much more than a how-to-make bread book. Readers accompany her to Stockholm, Warsaw, New York, Kabul, and other locations where she shares in the making of bread and the meals that go with them. Each location is featured in colour photographs, a series of recipes, and her own description of what drew her there and what she experienced.
