Modern Sourdough

I really like the specificity in this book. I'm the type of person that typically has to see a process step by step to be able to do it and this book will be perfect for not only starting my sourdough starter, but the baking process. I feel extremely confident going forward and I will definitely be buying the physical version of this book to keep on my counter.

Not to be dramatic, but this book has recreated a sense of passion for baking. I want to make my on starter and make beautiful breads and pastries. I had no idea that these could be made with sourdough!!!

The classic sourdough starter can be a struggle but this book made it look easy and more recipes than just bread!

I bake bread and I've baked with sourdough so I was thrilled to be offered this book to review. I thought it was wonderful. I appreciated the opening pages with the author's back story. But everyone will want to read and bake these recipes!

The book instructs the reader how to make the sourdough starter, and how to work with it. And then the fun starts. Of course everyone thinks of bread and this book provides recipes on some basic sourdough breads, but also some that are creative. But the chapters that really got my attention were the chapters on Sourdough Pastry and Sweet Sourdough. There are also chapters on Savoury Sourdough recipes, recipes that are specialties in the author's bakery, and some recipes for interesting jams and spreads.

Some of the included recipes include Cheddar and Paprika Bread, East End Date and Fennel Bread,
Danish Pastries, Blue Cheese and Red Onion Marmalade Twists, Babka, Apple and Cinnamon Bread and Butter Pudding, Doughnuts, and Pugliese Potato Focaccia. This is just a sampling. There is a collection of recipes from different ethnicities. Just a great source of ideas and beautifully photographed.

I will certainly be trying at least a few of these recipes in my own kitchen.

Thank you Quarto Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own!

This book has such clear recipes. I am so excited to start baking sourdough bread with these recipes. They give you such a variety of recipes to use. The pictures are absolutely amazing. They make me hungry just looking at them. I am absolutely amazed! I appreciated that the recipes for easy to follow and gave lots of details that were important to making the sourdough. They also start out with the basics of making a sourdough starter which is super important.

Read if you:
Have been seeing everyone post about their sourdough and you have FOMO.
Love variety of sourdough and want to try something new

Thank you again!

I am very, very new to sourdough and doing a lot of research before diving into the world of using and baking with it! I was very pleased with how detailed this book is from making the starter to turning it into over a hundred different masterpieces!

There are so many mouthwatering recipes in this book, both sweet and savory. This is absolutely a staple book I would love to add to my kitchen!

Be on the lookout for this one to hit the shelves!!

5 ⭐️
This book is for bread lovers around the world. (Guilty!) Scrumptious images are included on every page for your visual taste bud’s delight. This is a book I’ll be referring back to often!

The author brought flavors inspired from various countries like Australia, England, Poland, and Hungary all together when she opened her own successful business in North London.

The book starts with the author’s personal backstory, and then dives into how to get started with very clear day-by-day instructions for your “starter” yeast. She shares great info on maintenance and storage between bakes, as well as tips for hydration %, temperature, dough prep (folding, shaping, etc), baking, and cooking.

The rest of the book details ~100 visual recipes for breads and pastries like: brioche, focaccia, flatbreads, danishes, croissants, cinnamon buns, sourdough brownies, banana bread, and so much more. She even includes special treats like edible flower cookies, apricot lavender slice pastries as well as jams and spreads. So many mouth-watering things to try that I truly hope I succeed with my starter dough!

My only dislike of this book was the cover of this ARC. It seems too boring for the delicious secrets that lie inside. But you know what “they” say… (Never judge a book by its cover - yeah, you knew 😉).

Thank you to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group, and Michelle Eshkeri for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Margot Bakery is a popular bakery in East Finchley, London, and was opened in 2016 by Michelle Eshkeri, who supposed her friends would like to be able to purchase the specialties she had always baked at home. It happened that not only her friends wanted her baked goods, but people all over London wanted her baked goods. Because the bakery has been so popular, and customers have requested recipes so they could duplicate them at home, Eshkeri has published them in an excellent cookbook, Modern Sourdough: Sweet and Savoury Recipes from Margot Bakery.

Anyone who wants to learn the art of baking sourdough will want to purchase this excellent cookbook. It has step-by-step instructions on creating a sourdough starter, and then using the starter in dozens of mouthwatering recipes. The photographs (Patricia Niven has outdone herself) in the cookbook are excellent, and readers will want to stay home and bake for days.

This cookbook is not for those who are inpatient; rather, it is for those serious bakers who want to learn and are willing to put in the time (lots of time!) to make sourdough. I followed the instructions to the letter, and found that even though there was a lot of waiting time (even baking a loaf of bread involves not only the main starter, but another starter and then the shaped loaf has to sit in the fridge 12-16 hours before it’s ready to bake) the loaves turned out pretty good. Because I don’t live in London, I have had to adjust the recipes to work in my different altitude, using American flour, and a dry climate where I live. I’m happy to say, the patience has paid off and my loaves are starting to look better, and most importantly, taste amazing. The Cheddar and Paprika bread is presently in the fridge having a 16 hour sit before baking.

While sourdough is the main focus of the book, there are other excellent recipes for baked goods that aren’t sourdough, i.e., Lily’s Tahini Cookies and Hazelnut Friands.

While this cookbook is well-written and has mouthwatering recipes, it isn’t for everyone. It is for serious bakers who want to bake something a little outside of the box. Those willing to take the time will love it.


Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Wonderfully vivid photo's as well as step by step instructions. Sourdough is so on point with the trends at the moment and this provides a wide variety of breads, pastries as well as tasty sounding accompaniment's in jams/spreads section. I am very excited to try my hand at some of these recipes to have them become my go to for functions and gifts. These sound delicious as well as something a baker can accomplish. If you are interested or know someone interested in Sourdough this would be a fabulous gift or reference to pull some delightful recipes for your next gathering.

Thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity. Excited to give them a try.

Beautiful photographs and delicious organized recipes! I am so excited to try these in my kitchen. There are a variety of recipes with various add ins or styles to add to any meal. The layout is easy to follow.

I’ve been wanting to try making sourdough bread for a while now but every time I try to look up how-to’s and recipes I end up just feeling overwhelmed and too unsure to actually give it a go…but Modern Sourdough breaks the process down in such an accessible way, while also providing in-depth information without being overwhelming. I actually feel like I can tackle making a starter now and all of the recipes are exciting and so much more varied than I ever thought of sourdough being. Sourdough pancakes?? Sourdough brownies?? Yes, please! And the section of Margot’s specialty recipes is also great, I’ll definitely be making some of those as well!

Great book that covers so many sourdough recipes from the better known bread to pastries, brioche and cakes. Starting with clear and comprehensive instructions for making and maintaining a sourdough starter, the book then features recipes for breads from around the world. The pastries are sweet and savoury as are the breads. The instructions are very clear and the photographs throughout are very appealing and helpful. As well as detailing the story of her bakery and offering some of its recipes, the book also has a section on jams and relishes to make as accompaniments.

Wow! Very in depth book on making different sourdough baked goods, extremely thorough collection of recipes and directions on maintaining your starter

Modern Sourdough is such an amazing cookbook! It has everything I would want in one. Thank you for providing images of the recipes. I feel so many cookbooks lack in photos of their dishes. This will be an immediate purchase for me when it comes out. The recipes were amazing, and I can't wait to make even more.

As I am tackling the new to me world of sourdough I found this book truly inspiring. Sourdough is very intimidating, however, after reading through this book I feel more confident in my starter, and I now know a ton of new ideas of things I can make instead of just plain sourdough bread. I can’t wait to try some of these recipes, especially the flatbread and cinnamon rolls.

Sourdough bread is the most intimating thing to attempt to make. This book gives you the step by steps on making delicious homemade sourdough bread. It’s easy to understand and breaks down everything for you.

Modern Sourdough is a very good book for beginner sourdough baking. It gives a clear, step by step instruction on how to start your sourdough and maintain it. I also like the varied recipes using different flours. My favorite section is the Sweet Sourdough! I'm definitely buying this book when it comes out!

This is a fantastic book for any level of sourdough baking. I like that it gives you instructions for how to create your own starter, in case you’re like me and don’t have one from a friend. The pictures are beautiful, the instructions are very detailed, and there are so many recipes beyond basic sourdough bread. I can’t wait to purchase the hard copy for my father in law, who loves baking bread!

This immediately has beautiful pictures of all different kinds of bread. They range from sweet to savory and are recipes from Margot bakery.

This cookbook has sections on, sourdough pastry, sweet sourdough, savory sourdough, Margot specialties, and jams and spreads. It also has a step-by-step guide on how to make a sourdough starter that seems intimidating but the way it is laid out is helpful. There are even pictures that show how to braid sourdough challah. This is more of a serious but thoughtful cookbook with information about each recipe and the background of different cultures here and there. Even if you are not ready to try some of the recipes it is a starting point for you to look for more basic ones. There are some included in this cookbook. The sourdough pastries section looks so delicious!

Overall, this has almost everything you can imagine with sourdough. It’s creative and the recipes are laid out as simple as possible. I imagine it will take a ton of practice though. This is just a beautiful book to own and it definitely makes you want to learn how to make each and every one of these recipes. It truly is an art.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, White Lion Publishing for sharing this book with me in exchange for my honest review.

I recently received a sourdough starter last Thanksgiving. OMG has it been fun making delicious sourdough bread for family and friends. There are so many other recipes I'd like to try so this book is perfect to get in the kitchen and start baking up some things!

This book is really a back to basics, without making things too complicated.

Really detailed and easy to follow, in comparison to others, this title feel approachable and doesn't overcomplicate recipes by making them too bold and grand.

Definitely one I will be referring back to over and over.

This book talks all things sourdough, this book totally is hitting the trend of sourdough making and it comes with such great sourdough ideas! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback!

Beautiful photography in this. The bread looks delicious and the recipes sound accessible. I definitely plan to make a few.

This is an excellent cookbook! Sourdough baking can be confusing and the author does a great job walking through the steps. I loved her ideas, I’ve got some new recipes to try!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

Let me tell you I’ve already made a few of these recipes the New York rye is my favorite the crumb is amazing. I want a physical copy for sure.