Chris Young has been a baker for 40 years and since 2009 he has been the co-ordinator of The Real Bread Campaign. Using recipes of his own, alongside ones from other members, he has brought together this celebration of Real Bread and the people who make it. The Real Bread Campaign defines real bread as bread that has been made without chemical raising agents, so-called processing aids or any other additives. This book includes recipes for sourdough and also other slow dough recipes, so this could mean bread made with fresh yeast, using a pre-ferment or sponge or other methods which means the dough ferments slowly. Fermenting slowly results in a better structure, more complex taste and it is suggested that bread fermented slowly has health benefits too.

The recipe collection has a wide variety of exciting breads, Armenian Pizza, Simit- a sesame covered Turkish street food, Hackney Wild Sourdough, Earl Grey tea Loaf, The Shackleton, Appam- an Indian breakfast staple, the Roasted Pumpkin Sourdough, which is a beautiful shade of golden orange, as well as more everyday loaves such as the well loved Cottage Loaf. Many of these recipes are from small, independent bakeries and some are from part time bakers, there’s a paragraph about each of the contributors, which is an interesting addition to the book. The recipes are explained clearly and accompanied with mouth watering photography.

There is a very useful section at the start of the book, explaining the concept of slow dough bread, terms and techniques, equipment, ingredients, types of pre-ferment and the all important troubleshooting section. This is a very well put together collection, one that would be very useful for the baker just starting out on their breadmaking journey but also has plenty to offer for the more experienced baker.