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LDR

In article .com>,
says...
> > have all Ms. Birnbaum's books and I think she has a deservedly first
> >rate reputation among her peers and duffers like me for what she does
>
> One thing I don't like about Biranbaums recipes is she makes it
> complicated to the experienced kitchen practitioners...Its likely what
> she had in mind when writing his books are amateurs...
> Unforunately she did not do it well....The complexity of his recipes
> intimidates baking enthusiasts ...in the same way she earns the scorn
> from the bakery professionals....by being too fussy..
>
> She is not a baker by heart but a food professional working the recipes
> in her ivory tower. devoted to likeminded fellows...
>
> When she wrote the bread bible and it appeared, When the opportunity to
> browse it in the bookstore came. I just flipped the pages quickly and
> it did not get me interested and dump it back to the shelf ,while I
> took time to read the contents of the Jeffrey Hamelmans piece...
>
Why assume professionals set the gold standard? While the truly great
professional bakeries/bakers leave me in awe, I can beat eight out of
ten of the ones left over, and I think most serious amateurs can easily
say the same. Most of the reasons that make a successful bakery has
nothing to do with baking, and everything to do with business. So much
for the "scorn of professional bakers," although I would like to know
the source of Roy Basan's information. Like me, he's entitled to his
opinion, but it should be expressed as one.

About excellence: You have to be a little crazy to be in Ms. Biranbaum's
league. If you want a quick and dirty recipe that would be better than
acceptable at any potluck dinner, picknic, etc., then God knows you can
fine enough recipes to sink out of sight in, from the community
organization Xerox published to the huge ocean of mediocrity
"professionally" published.

Why in a group of amateur bakers--amateur meaning, to love--is there
such disdain for authors like Ms. Biranbaum. I just don't understand it;
when you bump into one of her books does someone hold a gun to your head
making you read it?