Just a quick update (I’ll be writing more this week):
Many Sonoma County folks who remember the days of Brother Juniper’s Cafe will also remember the soulful man behind the cafe, Peter Reinhart and his wife, Susan. And though the couple closed their Forestville cafe and bakery in the early 1990s and have since moved to North Carolina, Reinhart’s fame as a bread-baking guru has continued to rise.
I spent a day in the kitchen with Peter at Ramekins, gleaning as much about the secrets to bread baking as humanly possible in five hours — though any baker will tell you it takes a lifetime to learn.
By way of instant gratification, however…I have wanted to pass along this bit of info…
If you’re interested in becoming a recipe tester for Reinhart (and trust me, people line up by the hundreds to do this), you can email him at recipetesters@yahoo.com. He recently used some 500 testers (including a number of SoCo locals) for his new book, Artisan Breads Everyday , and not just as “thanks for helping” guinea pigs, but as serious testers of his innovative home-breadmaking techniques.
UPDATE FROM PETER: I am blown away by the show of support from the readers of
Biteclub, where over 70 readers have requested to be recipe
testers. It’s as much a testament to the reach and influence of
Heather’s blog as it is to my own work. However, I need to clarify the
situation, as I am not currently doing recipe testing and don’t have
a new book in process. What I tell the attendees at my various classes
is to periodically check my blog, http://peterreinhart.typepad.
for updates on recipe testing, as well as other news, such as progress
reports on the upcoming launch of a new website and, hopefully,
television series that I am working on called Pizza Quest (but the
launch of that is still at least a month away and the URL amd final
title still hasn’t been decided). When I start to work on a new book I
will post it there and will set up a new e-address for those who want
to be part of the testing process. While I am overjoyed at the response
I can’t, at this time, write back to everyone individually so I am
hoping you will see this clarification here and write back to me in the
future when I start on a new book (but, realistically, that may not be
for awhile as the pizza show is taking a lot of my time at the moment).
Thank you to everyone for writing and please know that I’ve read your
requests, many of which that include great anecdotes and personal
histories, and am overwhelmed by your passion and enthusiasm. I look
forward to hearing from you again down the road when the next testing
opportunity occurs.
Peter Reinhart
http://peterreinhart.typepad.
