Southern Ground: Reclaiming Flavor Through Stone-Milled Flour

Bread-heads will thrill to this deep dive into grains from Lapidus, an Asheville, N.C., miller who ditched law school to pursue baking, then turned to milling. Baking with locally milled grains, the author writes, helps “rebuild a more sustainable food system” and yields baked goods far tastier than those made with “industrial commodity flour.” Lapidus gets granular about everything from high grain prices in 2008 (blame Goldman Sachs) to the path of 5,000-pounds of Austrian mill equipment that traveled through Tanzania and Tasmania on its way to becoming the centerpiece of her operation. Readers looking for recipes will have to be patient, as the introductory material and mini profiles of 20 artisanal bakeries across the South take up the first third of the book. As for the recipes, they are precise (with measurements in grams) and organized by type of flour—hard wheat, rye, soft red wheat, and “blends and outlier grains.” Hard winter wheat is used in a Piedmont loaf and a “hippie” bread, while rye appears in a custard and a Nordic loaf made with beer. Other than a recipe for ciabatta rolls, the many breads covered are sourdough, and there are plenty of options for crackers, cookies, biscuits, and galettes. Ambitious home bakers looking to up their game would do well to pick this up. (Apr.)