The Global Master Bakers Cookbook

I first met Jimmy Griffin more than 38 years ago when he enrolled in the Baking Technology and Management Diploma course at the National Bakery School, Dublin Institute of Technology, where I was lecturing at that time. I remember I was immediately struck by both his agreeable personality and his infectious enthusiasm for his chosen career. Jimmy is the 6th generation of his family to have baked bread, cakes, and pastries for eager customers in the city of Galway. Over the past 38 years, he has proven himself to be a specialist baker who has a remarkable knowledge of his craft and most importantly of the technology of baking. In this field, Jimmy is both passionate and knowledgeable. He holds a master’s degree in food product development and culinary innovation. He is a lecturer in the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology at Technological University Dublin. Over the years, Jimmy has been successfully involved in a variety of European baking competitions, both as a competitor and as a team coach. He also has been a member of the international bakery jury for the CDM de la Boulangerie since 2000 and has judged at most of the World Baking Championships and World Baking Masters’ Competitions. In 2016, he was appointed as president of the jury at the CDM de la Boulangerie in Paris, a significant recognition of his status in the world of baking. Jimmy speaks four languages and is widely acknowledged as Ireland’s specialist communicator and bakery ambassador. Without doubt, Jimmy Griffin is highly regarded by his contemporaries throughout the baking world.Jimmy also is the 2019 world silver medallist CDM Chocolatine and an active competitor in world competitions. He is a highly regarded tutor and specialist demonstrator. He has given many masterclasses in Europe, China, Taiwan, Brazil, Japan, Russia, and the United States. I was privileged to accompany him to a number of these events and in particular to Stavropol, Russia in 2015 where he was conferred with an Honorary Professorship of Bakery and Pastry Arts by the University of Stavropol. I am delighted to have been asked to write the preface to this work. It is important to understand that this is not just another baking book—it is much more than that. In this book, Jimmy Griffin has compiled an incredibly interesting selection of recipes, all of which have been willingly supplied by his worldwide group of colleagues and friends, each one a highly regarded specialist baker in their own country. As a bonus, he’s shared the recipe and method for his world famous conger loaf. Don’t miss the backstory to that recipe—it reads like an action movie! This book is written and compiled by a baker for bakers. It represents artisan baking at its very best. The recipes do not contain improvers, additives, or dough conditioners. I have no doubt it will prove to be of huge interest to both professional and the home bakers alike. As the reader navigates through this wonderful book, they are introduced to a worldwide range of interesting breads, cakes, and pastry products, each with easy to follow and proven recipes and methods. I am confident you will be as impressed and please with the book as I am.Derek O’ BrienHead, National Bakery School, DIT, Dublin (retired)Head, Diploma in German Baking, IBA, Weinheim, Germany (retired)Director, Baking Academy of Ireland (retired).