Rye Baker

True rye bread—the kind that stands at the centre of northern and eastern European food culture—is much more than a shop-bought, bland loaf. In The Rye Baker, Stanley Ginsberg brings this overlooked grain into the culinary limelight, introducing readers to the rich and diverse world of rye bread. Readers will find more than 70 classic recipes that span rye’s regions and terroir, from dark, intense Russian Borodinsky and orange-infused Swedish Gotland Rye to near-black Westphalian Pumpernickel (which gets its musky sweetness from baking for twenty-four hours), Spiced Honey Rye from France’s Auvergne, and the rye breads of America’s melting-pot such as Boston Brown Bread and Old Milwaukee Rye.

Among the profusion of recently published baking books, a fair bit of chaff has been mixed in with the grain. For Stanley Ginsberg, rye is the grain of choice, and his book The Rye Baker is a tall and healthy stalk. Although we disagree now and again (for instance, I personally do not endorse vital wheat gluten or clear flour), there is no doubt that Stanley has made an important and durable contribution, and I congratulate and thank him for his excellent work.--Jeffrey Hamelman, bakery director, King Arthur Flour Company, and author of Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes, Rye breads are back, as they rightly should be. In The Rye Baker, Stanley Ginsberg has given us everything we need to know about this most misunderstood and fascinating grain, along with a complete collection of superb formulas for every variation of rye bread imaginable. This book is a must-have for all serious bread bakers; an instant classic.--Peter Reinhart, author of Bread Revolution

Stanley Ginsberg, owner-proprietor of The New York Bakers, a seller of baking ingredients, received the IACP Jane Grigson Award for his first book, Inside the Jewish Bakery. A native New Yorker, he lives with his wife in San Diego.