Foreword
Bread, as an exotic, is now favored by Chinese people and moreover with a variety of tastes, becomes the essential food for people’s daily life. Actually, the real delicious bread brings health and balanced nutritious structure. The simple dough is not that simple, which obliviously embodies your understanding and attitude towards cuisine and even the taste of life.
Then, how the bread is made? Which kind of bread can be named delicious bread? Which auxiliary material is suitable to make the bread yummy? The author of the book, Mr. Kang Liang, Executive Chef of Pastry Kitchen from Traders Hotel, Shenyang by Shangri-la Group will share his experiences and skills with us.
More than ten years ago, I used to co-work with Mr. Kang. His humble, diligent, hardworking and creative spirits have impressed me until now. Keen in cooking and in pursuit of life, Mr. Kang turn the general bread into fashionable and classic art. His Xylitol Bread broke the rules of Westerners possessing the patents of making bread only, which can be accepted by ordinary Chinese people and also as a gospel to diabetic patients. The traditional theory of medicine and food from the same origins, as well as the first attempt of pastry cooking between China and the West are worthy of praising and carrying forward.
Back to 3000 years ago, ancient Egyptians firstly mastered the skills of making and fermenting bread. They put the kneaded dough in a warm place and then bake it into a new pastry softer than baked cake after fermenting, swelling and souring. This kind of dough is the bread in the earliest time. With the development of the society, the bread has a wide range of kinds, which can be categorized by sour, sweet and salty in terms of taste; staple bread and dim sum bread in terms of function; soft, crispy, leavened or tough bread in terms of texture; white, all-wheat, filling or coarse cereals bread in terms of materials.
As a Chinese saying goes, “food with indefined tastes which depents on the tasters to choose.” The best bread is made by yourself. Different kinds of bread are made for different situations. On the basis of specific functions, we need to consider the material and texture of surface and core of the bread, for instance, the good fermenting bread should be covered by a dark brown hard skin and filled with elastic and porous core; while the good sweet bread should be covered by a golden brown skin and filled with soft and spongy core.
Making bread is different from cooking dish, which demands high standards of making process. The baking process can not be adjusted after the bread is put into the oven. Accordingly, the materials quoted in this book are noted by accurate quantity and in two languages （Chinese and English）. The making process is assorted with pictures for illustrating the key points of the process. The accumulated practical skills imparted in this way are truly a treasure.
Since the bread was brought to China from the West, the taste has been slightly changed. Most Chinese people may eat bread with milk at breakfast or take bread as hors d'oeuvres before enjoying Western food. In fact, oil-vinegar sauce, caviar, mayonnaise, peanut butter, all kinds of cheese, salmon, bacon and vegetables are good materials with bread.
Nowadays the new popular concept of "Emotional Cuisine" brings us to simple, pleasant, nice, comfortable, freely Westernstyle dining environment, to know and taste the original flavor of the bread, and to improve the ability of choosing your own way of life, while this book can pave you the way. This artistic teaching book integrates more than 80 kinds of bread with bread making and decorating, which may inspire your creativity and offer practical opportunities.
Wish Mr. Kang Liang successful in career and this book can make the Bread Arts to a new height!