Bake This Book

Sourhouse

Are we in the glorious final days of the physical cookbook just as interest in the ancient art of sourdough baking is at an all time high? Hopefully not, but if we are let celebrate what make cookbooks, especially bread cookbooks the lynchpin of the kitchen...counterculture if you will.For bread bakers and all lovers of cookbooks, the Bake this Book podcast discusses the bread cookbooks that will be your reference for years to come.  Join Erik Fabian, cookbook lover and home baker, as we discuss naturally leavened, sourdough breads with a bit of pastry, pizza and talk about baking culture. We invite authors to talk about their inspiration, their favorite baking tips and the impact cookbooks have had on their lives.

  1. 2 days ago

    Samuel Fromartz - In Search of the Perfect Loaf

    Erik Fabian talks with Samuel Fromartz about his 2014 memoir, In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker's Odyssey, and how his baking has evolved in the 12 years since. Sam Fromartz is a journalist who has spent four decades covering food, farming, and the environment. He started at Reuters in the mid-1980s, wrote for Fortune, Inc., the New York Times, and the Washington Post, and in 2011 co-founded the Food & Environment Reporting Network, the nonprofit newsroom he led as editor-in-chief until 2023. He is the author of two books: Organic, Inc. in 2006, and In Search of the Perfect Loaf in 2014, which won the IACP award for literary food writing. He lives in Washington, D.C., where he bakes all his family's bread. In Search of the Perfect Loaf began in 2009 with a magazine assignment to work in a French boulangerie. That trip set Sam on a years-long pursuit: first of a better homemade baguette (one that eventually won a "Best Baguette of D.C." contest against professional bakeries), then of bread itself. He baked sourdough in California, rye in Berlin, and country loaves in the South of France, and talked with millers, farmers, wheat breeders, and fermentation scientists along the way. We talk about tips for baking with freshly milled flour, why bakers are so fascinated by the baguette, how his baking has changed since writing the book, and what his perfect loaf is today.   Where to buy Sam's book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/309299/in-search-of-the-perfect-loaf-by-samuel-fromartzMore about Sam Fromartz: chewswise.comIG: @fromartzMore About Sourhouse: sourhouse.coIG: @lifeatsourhouseWhat sourdough cookbook author should we talk to next? Send your feedback & suggestions to: podcast@sourhouse.co -- Download your free Sourhouse Community Cookbook: https://sourhouse.co/community-cookbook -- Bake This Book is a trademark of Sourhouse LLC.

    Samuel Fromartz - In Search of the Perfect Loaf
  2. 10 Sept ·  Bonus

    Rose Wilde: Bread and Roses (Live at the 2026 Kneading Conference)

    A bonus episode recorded live at the 2026 Kneading Conference in Skowhegan, Maine! Erik Fabian talks with Rose Wilde about her cookbook, Bread and Roses: 100+ Grain Forward Recipes featuring Global Ingredients and Botanicals. Rose Wilde is a Los Angeles chef and writer who grew up in Ecuador, trained as an actor, and practiced human rights law before turning to baking. In 2011 she founded Red Bread, a microbakery that started with bike deliveries and grew into a stand at the Santa Monica Farmers Market; she has since led pastry and bread programs at LA restaurants. She is a Master Gardener and Master Food Preserver, and she co-hosts the Kitchen Tape Podcast. Bread and Roses was named a Best Book of 2023 by both the Los Angeles Times and Bon Appétit. It is a guide to "brown-flour" baking built on whole grains from around the world, with recipes organized by the regions associated with each grain and many that fold in flowers and other botanicals. Erik and Rose talk about baking with whole grains and botanicals, training your palate to taste subtle flavors, using sourdough in pastry, and why learning to bake your own bread matters. Where to buy Rose's book: Eat Red Bread StoreMore about Rose Wilde: eatredbread.comKitchen Tape PodcastEat More SubstackIG: @trosewildeMore About Kneading Conference kneadingconference.com@mainegrainalliance@mainegrainsMore About Sourhouse: sourhouse.coIG: @lifeatsourhouseWhat sourdough cookbook author should we talk to next? Send your feedback & suggestions to podcast@sourhouse.co -- Download your free Sourhouse Community Cookbook: https://sourhouse.co/community-cookbook -- Bake This Book is a trademark of Sourhouse LLC.

    Rose Wilde: Bread and Roses (Live at the 2026 Kneading Conference)
  3. 5 May

    Jennifer Lapidus - Southern Ground: Reclaiming Flavor Through Stone-Milled Flour

    Erik Fabian talks with Jennifer Lapidus about her cookbook: Southern Ground: Reclaiming Flavor Through Stone-Milled Flour. Jennifer Lapidus is the founder and principal of Carolina Ground flour mill in western North Carolina. In 1994, she launched Natural Bridge Bakery just outside Asheville, NC, where she milled her flours in-house and baked her naturally leavened breads in a wood-fired brick oven for 14 years. Jennifer now sits on the board of Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and is co-organizer of the Asheville Bread Festival. Carolina Ground offers a range of locally-grown and ground pastry, bread, and rye flour that are used in bakeries from VA to Florida and Louisiana and Mississippi and support a network of organic farmers, bakers, and millers invested in sustainable food systems. Southern Ground traces the history of Jennifer's mill and the network she helped build. Celebrating the work of craft bakers from all over the South the book includes more than seventy-five recipes arranged by grain. It is a love letter to Southern baking and a call for the home baker to understand the source and makeup of their most important ingredient: flour. We talk about tips for baking with fresh, stone-ground flour, creating community around projects and the history of the local flour economy in the Southeastern United States. Where to buy Jennifer's book: https://carolinaground.com/flourshop/southerngroundMore about Jennifer Lapidus: carolinaground.comIG: @carolinagroundMore About Sourhouse: sourhouse.coIG: @lifeatsourhouseWhat sourdough cookbook author should we talk to next? Send your feedback & suggestions to: podcast@sourhouse.co -- Download your free Sourhouse Community Cookbook: https://sourhouse.co/community-cookbook -- Bake This Book is a trademark of Sourhouse LLC.

    Jennifer Lapidus - Southern Ground: Reclaiming Flavor Through Stone-Milled Flour
  4. 28 Apr

    Miro van Vreckem - The Sourdough Baking Book: From Sourdough Starter to Stunning Breads and Pastries

    Erik Fabian talks with Miro van Vreckem about first cookbook: Sourdough Baking Book: From Sourdough Starter to Stunning Breads and Pastries.  Miro van Vreckem is a Belgian baker at Norway’s Elt Bakeri...founded in 2022 in the mountain village of Sollia, on the edge of the Rondane, a national park, sells bread, pastries and pizza. In 2024, Elt was named one of the top bakeries in Norway. His new book traces sourdough’s journey “from flour to crumb,” beginning with organic farmers growing grain and millers transforming it into flour. It provides step-by-step guidance for creating sourdough starter from scratch, with recipes for crusty loaves, pastries, and sweet and savory applications. We discuss what inspired this Belgian baker to move to Norway, his path to founding Elt Bakeri in the mountain village of Sollia and how his book is helping create a new culture of bread in his adopted home...and of course his sourdough baking tips. Where to buy Miro's book: www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Sourdough-Baking-Book/Miro-Van-Vreckem/9789059960725More about Miro van Vreckem: eltbakeri.noIG: @eltbakeriMore About Sourhouse: sourhouse.coIG: @lifeatsourhouseWhat sourdough cookbook author should we talk to next? Send your feedback & suggestions to: podcast@sourhouse.co -- Download your free Sourhouse Community Cookbook: https://sourhouse.co/community-cookbook -- Bake This Book is a trademark of Sourhouse LLC.

    Miro van Vreckem - The Sourdough Baking Book: From Sourdough Starter to Stunning Breads and Pastries
  5. 21 Apr

    Henry Hunter - Sourdough for the Rest of Us

    Erik Fabian talks with Henry Hunter about his self-published collection of baking books including: Sourdough for the Rest of Us and Bread: A Journey Through History, Science, Art, and Community.  Henry Hunter, an artisan bread baker, cookbook author, and founder of the Baking Great Bread at Home community...where over 38,000 members gather to discuss all things bread baking. Sourdough for the Rest of Us invites us to forget the sourdough snobbery and to bake great bread without the stress. Whether you're just getting started or tired of conflicting advice, Sourdough for the Rest of Us breaks down the process in plain, no-nonsense terms so you can bake with confidence. Bread: A Journey Through History, Science, Art, and Community collects Henry's thoughts on humanity's most fundamental food technology...bread. From the first accidentally fermented grain paste to today's artisan sourdough, bread has been our constant companion through history, culture, and community. This book explores not just how to bake bread, but why bread matters—scientifically, culturally, and personally. We talk about tips for teaching and learning sourdough baking, self-publishing cookbooks, using technology to help create recipes and what make bread such a powerful cultural symbol. Where to buy Henry's books: bakinggreatbread.com/booksMore about Henry Hunter: bakinggreatbread.comIG: @bakinggreatbreadMore About Sourhouse: sourhouse.coIG: @lifeatsourhouseWhat sourdough cookbook author should we talk to next? Send your feedback & suggestions to: podcast@sourhouse.co -- Download your free Sourhouse Community Cookbook: https://sourhouse.co/community-cookbook -- Bake This Book is a trademark of Sourhouse LLC.

    Henry Hunter - Sourdough for the Rest of Us

Trailers

About

Are we in the glorious final days of the physical cookbook just as interest in the ancient art of sourdough baking is at an all time high? Hopefully not, but if we are let celebrate what make cookbooks, especially bread cookbooks the lynchpin of the kitchen...counterculture if you will.For bread bakers and all lovers of cookbooks, the Bake this Book podcast discusses the bread cookbooks that will be your reference for years to come.  Join Erik Fabian, cookbook lover and home baker, as we discuss naturally leavened, sourdough breads with a bit of pastry, pizza and talk about baking culture. We invite authors to talk about their inspiration, their favorite baking tips and the impact cookbooks have had on their lives.

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