Tartine Bread

Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson focuses exclusively on naturally leavened bread made with a wild yeast sourdough starter, with no commercial yeast used anywhere in the book. It details Robertson's technique for achieving an open, custardy crumb and dark, blistered crust, which he developed at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco's Mission District.

The most distinctive technique is baking the loaf inside a preheated cast-iron Dutch oven (or combo cooker), which traps steam released by the dough to replicate the environment of a professional steam-injected bread oven. This method allows home bakers to achieve the crackling, blistered crust that would otherwise require commercial bakery equipment.

The core recipe is a country bread made with a mixture of white bread flour and whole wheat flour, leavened with a liquid sourdough starter that Robertson instructs readers to feed daily. The process involves a long, slow bulk fermentation, gentle folding rather than aggressive kneading, an overnight cold proof, and the Dutch-oven bake.

Tartine Bakery is located at 600 Guerrero Street in San Francisco's Mission District, and was co-founded by Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt in 2002. Robertson later expanded to Tartine Manufactory, a larger facility in the city's Mission District that opened in 2016.