法棍是法国美食的精髓，但法国面包烘焙传统遇上世界文化，则碰撞出一个庞大的食谱。本书介绍了法国面包的历史，帮助在家烘焙的人选择正确的原料——谷物、面粉、水、盐、发酵剂，详细介绍了面包制作的工艺流程和基本原理：活化发酵剂、揉捏、成型、烘烤，共100多道食谱。

18位专业面包师、糕点师、厨师分享了造就法国面包店声誉远扬的甜味和咸味食谱——圆形的康帕纽面包、橄榄牛至面包、佛格斯面包、巴斯克的talos。新一代的厨师开发了很多原创作品，如芝麻黑法棍、抹茶卷面包、荞麦海藻碎石蛋糕，以及榛子无花果黑麦面包。本书有一章专门介绍并以法国风格重新诠释了世界各地的传统面包，如皮塔饼、佛卡夏饼、百吉饼、格鲁吉亚的哈卡普里饼、挪威极地面包。食谱包括惊喜面包、法式三明治咬先生、洋葱汤配奶酪面包片，以及甜点，如西多士、布列塔尼黄油酥饼。每个食谱都以象形图的形式展示了难度、所需时间、发酵剂品种，以及食谱是否含麸质的信息。

The quintessential staple of French cuisine is the humble baguette, but the country’s bread baking tradition―along with variations assimilated from other world cultures―offers a vast repertoire. With an introduction to the history of French bread, guidelines to help the home baker select the right ingredients―grain and flour varieties, water, salt, and starter―this book details the step-by-step techniques and fundamentals of bread making: from feeding the starter, kneading and preparing the dough, and baking, to more than 100 recipes.

Eighteen expert bakers, pastry makers, or chefs share the sweet and savory recipes that have forged the French bakery’s enviable reputation―from round pain de campagne or olive and oregano bread to regional breads like fougasse or the Basque talos. A new generation of chefs have developed original creations such as black baguette with sesame, Matcha tea rolled bread, buckwheat and seaweed galets, and honey, fig, and hazelnut rye. A chapter devoted to traditional breads from all around the world, such as pita, focaccia, bagels, Georgian khachapuri, and Norwegian polar bread are reinterpreted in the French style. Recipes include pains surprise, croque-monsieur, onion soup with cheese croutons, and desserts such as pain perdu and kouign-amann. For each recipe, pictograms indicate the level of difficulty, time required, type of starter, and whether a recipe is gluten-free.