Notes about Recipes in this book

• Basic country bread

  • twoyolks on August 22, 2018

    Making this bread is a bit long and involved of a process. But it makes an excellent loaf. There's just enough sour in the bread to make the flavor interesting. The crumb of the bread is loose and open without being too large. The crust was perfectly crunchy. The only negative was the bottom of the bread got a tad burned. This was great by itself and even better with some butter.

  • etcjm on October 30, 2018

    As per the other review, yes a labour of love. I had to create a spelt starter (2 weeks) then 3 days for the bread. I learned a lot and kept rereading the instructions. Temperature and timing are key and I struggled with both. However I ended up with a definite sourdough crusty bread. I will try again, but on a weekend when I'm home. The other key thing, I will clean the oven. At the required temperatures an expelair didn't cut it...

  • Astrid5555 on April 26, 2020

    I watched @jenifferlatham, Tartine bakery’s head of bread, Instagram tutorial before making this loaf but used my own starter. Perfect step-by-step explanation together with the recipe from the book. Still, my dough was a little wetter than it should have been and thus a little more difficult to handle. My first loaf did not develop the same ovenspring as the second one, I think it was probably underproofed. Next time, and there will be a next time, I will let the dough proof overnight in the fridge as per the video tutorial. Gifted one loaf to my neighbours and got rave reviews.

  • benitamehta on February 25, 2022

    I make this a couple times a month. It's my favorite sourdough bread recipe. It always produces a great crust and crumb for me. I always use one half for pizza dough and one half as a bread loaf since it's just two of us.

  • kkmatti on January 01, 2024

    I waited in line for 2 hours at Tartine in San Francisco for a slice of this bread in the early 2000s. I bought this book years ago in an attempt to reproduce the sourdough I had at the bakery with varying results. I've gotten very close, but I've had to experiment with some different techniques and flours to get there and what I'm producing now is excellent. I'm baking at 5300' altitude, so your results might vary. I recommend adding a few ice cubes to the hot dutch oven to create more steam. I also recommend a hotter oven after adding the loaves at 475F. I also add ice cubes to a tray on the bottom of the oven after taking the lid off the dutch oven. I'm currently using Minnesota Girl white flour and Bob's Red Mill wheat flour.

• Polenta bread

  • RosieB on March 05, 2015

    I made ths bread and it was so wet I was sure it was going to be a failure. I decided to bake it anyway. When I put it in my dutch oven the dough did not hold its shape and spread over the base of the dutch oven. After the covered period of cooking I was suprised to find the dough had risen. After completing the cooking it looked pretty good although not the traditional boule shape. We cut into it a straight away and it was a bit sticky but after leaving it for a few hours it had dried a lot. The final loaf was moist and tasty.

  • metacritic on May 24, 2020

    This was my favorite bread yet from the book. The texture after adding wetted polenta is almost silken. The sunflower seeds add texture and bursts of flavor. The ferment is subtle but balanced with sweetness. With salted butter this bread eclipses most anything you can get even from a serious bakery.

  • abifrancesca on January 05, 2025

    Delicious but super wet dough and very challenging to work with. May try again with some tweaks, using this post as a guide: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/70314/rosemary-polenta-pumpkin-seed-sourdough-tartine-bread-raw-failure

  • sara_gfp0zk on April 10, 2026

    By far my favorite bread from this cookbook. Easy to make and everyone loves it .

• Country rye

  • Astrid5555 on February 28, 2021

    Beautiful dough to work with, perfect crust & crumb. Will go into regular sourdough rotation.

• Baguettes

  • twoyolks on February 05, 2019

    The baguettes have a nice flavor that's a bit more mellow than the basic country bread. The crust for the bread was good. The crumb was tighter than I expected (and didn't look like the picture in the book) but was still nice.

• English muffin

  • benitamehta on February 25, 2022

    I've made a few different English Muffin recipes and this is my absolute favorite. Great chew, nooks and crannies and flavor. Definitely keeper. One batch makes a lot! I use a three-inch round cutter so I end up freezing most of them, but if frozen the day they're made, they taste super fresh when thawed and toasted. Way better even than the ones kept on the counter for a few days.

• Kale Caesar

  • Hansyhobs on December 14, 2022

    Made for lunch with a mix of purple and green kale - looked great

• White gazpacho

  • fprincess on July 19, 2011

    This is wonderful. The combination of the white gazpacho made from the almonds and flavored with garlic (use good quality stale bread as you can really taste the bread in the soup), with the red gazpacho garnish, is very elegant and absolutely delicious! http://tartinestotikis.wordpress.com/2013/08/22/more-chilled-soups/

• Clarise's meatball sandwich

  • franchimou on April 22, 2026

    really good

• Le tourin

  • fprincess on July 18, 2012

    I was looking for a way to use a bunch of vegetables from my CSA which included collard greens, carrots and onions. I decided to make the Tourin, a rustic soup with torn pieces of stale bread, served with an egg, fried or poached (I opted for a poached egg Arzack-style). It was very comforting and the egg was a nice touch as it thickened the soup. I used homemade chicken broth and I blanched the collard greens before adding them to the rest of the vegetables. Picture here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/142022-tartine/page__p__1885412#entry1885412

• Porchetta

  • etcjm on April 16, 2019

    First foray into rerolling a piece of meat and doing butcher's knots, bring on YouTube! Cooked for a meal rather than for cold meats. Had to really work to get crackling, because of the way it's cooked it can't happen normally. Enjoyable but not sure it created the impact I wanted it to with the cost and time it involved (although not hard work). Generally when there is still a huge slab of meat left by Tuesday night it's not one for rotation. Looked fab in the fridge though!

• Tartine baked French toast

  • julbelle19 on November 28, 2020

    Link to recipe: https://www.mercurynews.com/2010/12/22/brunch-recipe-tartine-baked-french-toast-2/

  • Jeshaprekop on November 09, 2025

    The recipe says to cut 1 1/2 inch slice. That just seems too much bread. Besides the slices on the photos in the book look more like 3/4 inch thick or 1 inch for the most. I decided to cut mine days-old Tartine sourdough 3/4 inch thick, and it was a good guess. The bread did not shrink, in fact the baking part with the custard filling in the oven hold the height (and got even a bit puffier). It did take 20-22 mins to bake through. I insert a toothpick to check the custard doneness. The bottom is indeed beautifully caramelized. Overall it’s a bit work but very special. This 3/4 custardy French toast feels like eating a steak. And it’s quite filling. Would probably make it again for special occasions.

  • sharon_olniyq on March 29, 2026

    The only French toast recipe you will ever need, it’s a cross between French toast and bread pudding and worth the extra steps. Its custard interior paired with the glasslike crisp top are perfect! We have used different inclusion sourdoughs to make it seasonal: cranberry pumpkin, blueberry, date and walnut. All phenomenal. Add fresh whipped cream and fruit for the win

• Everyday Annie

  Though I still have plenty more I want to make from this book, I can assure you it is full of gorgeous photos, reliable recipes, and invaluable baking expertise.

  Full review

• Food52

  For bread obsessives, this book's insight into the artisanal bread world is about as inspiring as it gets...Robertson's passion can be felt through his stories...

  Full review