This is a wonderful book for experienced bakers. It almost feels written for bakery owners. these are time consuming recipes but if you have the time they are oh so worth it. The sourdough takes time but the flavor is wonderful. The flatbreads are great and I loved the bagels as well. So many recipes to try....

Although I own and have reviewed a few books about sourdough, I cannot resist a new book about it. And as Michelle Eshkeri writes at the beginning of this book: "There is not only one way to make bread and there are as many ways to make good bread as there are bakers".

The book was written to share the recipes that Michelle bakes in her London bakery, Margot. The pictures are beautiful and leave you no choice but to try the recipes for yourself (unless you are lucky enough to live close to her bakery!).

The book starts with a good section on basics that covers the techniques for making a starter, keeping it, refreshing it and making the dough, shaping and scoring the bread as well as cooking it. The explanations are very clear and nicely organised step by step. They are very complete and cover everything you need to know to succeed in your baking. I would maybe have welcome a few more pictures of the various stages of starter and dough and of the main techniques as this would help less experienced bakers to enjoy using this book.

I will certainly have another try at making sourdough myself with this book and experiment with some of its recipes. There is a nice selection of loaves, with the Geronimo standing out for me. The sweet pastries range is also lovely and I have never tried sourdough sweet pastries before, but I will definitely try the sourdough banana bread. The savoury ones are definitely attractive, with a special mention for the fennel and feta muffins and the smoked cheese and beetroot pull-apart bread. With a chapter on the Margot non-sourdough specialities (Lily's tahini cookies sound delicious) and on spreads and jams, the book wraps it all up nicely.

This book is a nice addition to my sourdough collection and it will bring joy to many bakers who are prepared to take the time to go with the sourdough flow.

I love good bread, especially sourdough, and have to go out of my way to get it from local bakeries: making my own would make so much more sense but I have never found a simple enough recipe. Sadly, this book is no different, but that is not a criticism, I am just searching for the holy grail!!


Every recipe (with accompanying photos) looks delicious and I would eat them all! However, I do find the whole process of feeding starters a faf and in reality, until I retire, and have more time on my hands, I am unlikely to change my ways.

I did not know sourdough could be used in pastry and sweet desserts and will definitely try cinnamon buns and the salted caramel chocolate chip cookies when I can find that all elusive time. Until then I’ll drool over the photos and head off to the bakery….

This book made me want to bake bread again for the first time since I was in pastry school a decade ago. My husband used to keep a sourdough starter and I am thinking of buying this book for him so that we can get back into bread baking together. Thank you so much for this ARC, I really enjoyed it and the level of detail included in the book - great for someone who is a a beginner or hasn't baked in a long, long time.

This is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to learn how to bake sourdough! It has a great selection of recipes that are easy to follow. The many pictures are also a great addition!

This is a great book. I have lots of bread baking books and this book has different receipes that I have not seen before. It seems to give a good guide how to start your starter and how to treat your dough but I have not tried any of the receipes.

I think I'm just too casual of a baker for this book. I found it overwhelming and hard to navigate. Though some of this is likely because it wasn't designed to be on my kindle. Might try to get it through interlibrary loan, see if that helps.

Holy smokes this book is not only drool-worthy it will make a great sourdough baker a great companion book.

I’ve been baking most of my life and at fifty I have collected hundreds of cookbooks and baking books, but there is only a handful I use every week and I could see myself using this one all the time. I love sourdough and have been using the King Arthur Flour method for many years and have been happy with it. Still, I am limited with recipes I can use my sourdough in so before I know it the sourdough is gone and I have to make it again. Hence, I need to broaden my horizon and have more recipes I can use sourdough in and this book would most definitely do that for me.

Not only does this book offer chapter after chapter of recipes for your sourdough, but it also offers specialties recipes for things such as cookies, cakes, and muffins and there is also jam and spreads.



Each recipe offers step-by-step instructions and wonderful images.

I've been making sourdough bread for about 6 years now and this book taught me new techniques and ideas for my hobby. I love the inventive flavors and types of sourdough Michelle introduces to us in this book. Fantastic read, can't wait to make some different sourdough breads!

I was really excited when got the opportunity to read this book. I'm always been fascinated by those who manage to bake bread. I tried several times in the past years but failed miserably. It looks simpler than it is, but this book was a great help! I tried some sourdough bread in some bakery and I deeply love eating in the morning just with some butter and fresh homemade marmalade. I love how the book it is structured, as guide the reader step by step. The initial part might look difficult, but as soon as it is well understood than it gets easier. I also liked that it includes different types of bread also with flavor.
I also want to take few seconds to say how important are the covers of the book. I think this book cover, was a good choice. It has to attract the customer, otherwise they will just get the one that has a better cover.
I loved this book in all its parts, and super happy that I managed to finally bake a bread that wasn't turning into a stone after few minutes!

Spoiler Alert: This book by the owner of Margot Bakery in London is NOT for the novice baker.
I am currently hell bent on moving away from pappy supermarket UPF bread and also moving away from industrial yeast. The plan is to get more fermenting buddies into the kitchen and sourdough is to join ranks with Hugo the kefir. I have some experience with sourdough (given, not made), but with a lot of travelling keeping it was a problem.
The starter process was explained in good detail, however the chapter on the starter and even more so the dough shaping would have greatly benefitted from illustrations - all those different folds are rather difficult to follow.
And you’d better have no full time job - e.g. the ciabatta takes 60 hours to make - sans baking!

All in all, an interesting and generous array of different sourdough bread and pastry recipes with mouth-watering pictures.

This is a really excellent and beautifully formatted guide to making sourdough! It seems to explain the process well enough for beginners and has recipes that experienced artisans will enjoy as well.
I love the photos.

I am a sourdough novice. I tried a starter once and then attempted a loaf of bread and it was a disaster. I am fascinated by sourdough though!
I thought the instructions given for starting a starter and keeping it going were very in depth. I may actually attempt to follow these more detailed directions and see if I can succeed.

The recipes were amazing. I had no idea the variety of sourdough delights that could be made. There are the breads but also sweet and savory recipes that I'd never even considered! I appreciated that there were photos of all of the finished products and some of them also included step by step photos to help you master the techniques.

There are many steps for each recipe, and that may on the surface seem overwhelming. But I greatly appreciate being specific with regard to the steps, especially when making something I am not familiar with.

I haven't tried any of these recipes personally, seeing that I killed the only starter I ever tried. But I think I'd feel comfortable attempting a bread recipe first and then perhaps progressing to other more complicated recipes once I felt comfortable working with the sourdough starter.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to receive an advanced copy of this book to review. I'm happily and voluntarily leaving an honest review.

A lovely book of recipes from Margot in London. The recipes are in chapters on Bread, Sourdough Pastry, Sweet Sourdough, Savory Sourdough, Margot Specialties (cookies and cakes), and Jams and Spreads.
There is a significant section on creating a sourdough starter, including a chart showing three weeks worth of what to do. There is also a section on dough.
Each recipe has a color photo, and I found there to be a good variety of flavors in here.

Beautiful pictures, lots of great information and several recipes that I can't wait to try out. The only reason why this isn't a 5 star book is for the same reason most sourdough bakery books don't reach that 5th star; the recipes aren't accessible to the home baker. Most sourdough books of this kind require the use of different "refreshments" as this book calls them. The average home sourdough baker is going to have their main starter and that is the one they're going to keep fed. Having to take a bit of that one to create these other refreshments to then bake that particular loaf isn't always as accessible as it is to a bakery. As someone who doesn't like to keep a lot of discard around, and who doesn't bake every day, I don't want to have to take a bit from my main starter. I just want to use that and bake these beautiful loaves.

Modern Sourdough is a delightful addition to any baker's cookbook collection. Michelle Eshkeri's detailed instructions for growing a sourdough starter offer a helpful starting point for bakers of all levels and the book only gets better from there.

I got into sourdough during the pandemic (like so many others), but I still had so much to learn and this book is definitely going to up my game. The book is hugely visually appealing, with gorgeous photos that made me want to start baking again immediately.

It features a wide range of bread recipes to suit every taste, from classic loaves to fancy pastries. This book even includes recipes for desserts and jams/spreads from Michelle's restaurant Margot, all of which look absolutely amazing.

Whether you're new to sourdough or looking to try something new, this book is a valuable resource. Get ready to up your baking game and enjoy the delicious flavours of homemade sourdough creations!

This book really needs a subtitle! It is the most wonderful introduction to the methods used at Margot bakery to create breads and viennoiserie using sourdough but also includes cakes and biscuits.

These methods take time, many days in some cases before you start to mix but well worth it.

It includes recipes that are unfamiliar which makes it all the more exciting for an experienced baker. Definitely a keeper

While I enjoy baking with yeast, sourdough is still a bit intimidating and yet I SO wish to master it. Especially baking sweet breads with it. Modern Sourdough teaches you how to make starter and create savory and sweet bread with it which is "one-in-all". This book contains breakfast ideas such as pancakes, crumpet, familiar breads like brioche, ciabatta, and flat bread, treats like brownies, cakes, and cookies.

This book isn't certainly for novice bakers, however, it will help you to build up some confidence as long as you follow the instructions well. Not all recipes come with pictures and some recipes are rather new to American readers (at least for me!). I can't wait to start baking, but expect most of recipes are pretty time-consuming and require patience along the way. If you're interested in delving into sourdough, give this book a shot!

I have a couple of sourdough recipe books, but neither have enthused or encouraged me as much as this one. It’s straightforward, packed with colourful photos and every step is clearly laid out so the reader can get to grips with this slightly tricky dough. I’ve never managed the starter dough but, but for the first time after decades of baking pg, I’ve got a culture going and I’m thrilled.

I’ve been cooking and baking for over 50 years and this is one of the best cookery books I’ve read. It’s great as an ebook on a tablet, works seamlessly, but when oublished, I shall buy a hard copy as I want it on my cookery book shelf. It’s brilliant.

As a new sourdough baker, I found this book incredibly helpful. This book included directions for baking bread with measurable attributes such as dough temperature. I’m excited to try some of the new recipes included beyond just a basic loaf. Thank you for this advanced copy!