August 13, 2021 - 12:49pm
Brotland Deutschland AWOL - why?
Any ideas why the Brotland Deutschland series by Franz Steffen is impossible to find on the market (at least from my searching)? I would have thought this is a seminal series, which, though it might be expensive, is at least still out "there."
Any ideas?
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how did you learn about its existence?
jl, see below. It's HER fault. I think. LOL.
Paul, you make me feel guilty of that. I have them and I am not selling them, so I feel like I am the reason that they are not available for sale anymore.
I think they are not available for two or three reasons. Both writing and publishing of those three volumes was very spread out in time between 1990s and 2000s, so they were never available for sale as a set, for by the time the second volume came out, the first volume was out of print and not available for purchase anywhere. The number of copies printed was very small and there was never a second or third printing, and it is strictly for reference for professional bakers and bread technologists. Home bakers won't be able to bake using those books at all. It's a very advanced level.
You can obviously get them if you want to read them by asking your local library to bring them to you via interlibrary loan. I am not sure that they are available in US universities or Congress library, but they are available in German libraries and they would send them to you for reading them, just request it. The librarians will find them and bring them to you.
Sorry guys, somehow I'd missed you replied.
Mariana, so YOU'RE the one. Haha, I'd hang on fiercely myself.
I just got some materials from Germany via outerloan, so I'll look it up and see if it's available. I think you were the one who brought it to my attention, IIRC!
One thing that appeals to me - correct me if I'm wrong - but doesn't it have a wealthy body of exemplar formulas for German breads?
In my flurry of humor (umm), I neglected to say thanks for the info, mariana. Your second paragraph is insightful and spot on, I'd believe, and your last paragraph was helpful. We'll see, the outerlibrary loan process is underway.
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The outerlibrary loan was a fail. In re-reading through Brotdoc's website, I note that he mentions at least the first book a few times as a kind of benchmark from which to experiment, which must be why it's also in mind.
If anyone should come across the book(s) for sale and don't want it (them) for her- or himself, would you let me know?
Thanks,
Paul
Yes, local libraries often won't do it. You need access to a university library, state school works better in my experience, but getting a book from overseas is a tall order, particularly nowadays.
Good suggestion Suave, thank you. When I was seriously into artisanal alpine cheesemaking, I was privy to every conceivable paper and book on the subject (Univ. of WI - Madison, where we live and our son goes to school, has an extensive and dedicated dairy library, as one might expect). I'll give it a try.
A bit OT and I've asked elsewhere, but I'm looking for a good textbook or two covering enough fundamentals of French and German science and method for this interested layman, to be able to intelligently go after diagnoses, as well as at least understand the thinking behind folks like Brotdoc's or Lutz's (or Karin's or mariana's or Marie-Claire's or...or....) formulations.
I have Calvel for French, and find a smattering of other books are nice (e.g., the added bonus of the introductory chapters of The Bread Builders), but really a lacuna when it comes to German and rye baking generally.
I have a decent library and probably have these subjects covered across the rows, but I tend to thrive with one or two good, extensive books (e.g., for brewing, the two-volume Malting and Brewing Science, Briggs, Hough et al). In lieu of Brotland Deutschland, any suggestions? I can wend my way through German but have no Russian, so many of the "official" Russian primary materials are lost to me. A huge bummer, really.
I've had good results when looking for rare, out-of-print books simply by being persistent. You might want to keep searching your sources every few months to see if something turns up. Sometimes it took years before I found what I was looking for.
Thanks Petek. Good reminder patience is in order.
After making my last post, I searched ABE Books for an item I've been looking for at least 10 years. A copy showed up and I'm now asking the dealer about its condition. Patience really can pay off!
You might be on the lookout for Advances in Cereal Science and Technology, Vol II, dated 1978. One of the seven chapters covers West German breads in 40 pages.
Added to the search list. Thanks charbono.
The World catalogue shows two copies of the first book in libraries...both in Germany. I didn't check the other books in the series. Good luck.
https://www.worldcat.org/title/brotland-deutschland/oclc/1073319915
Thank you. Yep, unfortunately I tried but our outerlibrary loan system apparently doesn't do international.