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In this disc from the Better Bread DVD series, Chef Ciril Hitz begins the journey in exploring the complex world of sourdough breads.

Through clear, step-by-step instruction, Chef Hitz introduces the basic principles of working with sourdoughs, from starting and managing your own culture to understanding the role fermentation plays in developing the unique flavour profiles characteristic of sourdough breads. Topics and formulas include:

• Starting a sourdough culture
• Maintaining a sourdough culture
• Understanding fermentation and flavour
• Sourdough Miche
• Pumpkin Sourdough Bread
• Olive Sourdough Bread

Chef Ciril Hitz brings a unique expertise to the field of artisan and decorative breads. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Rhode Island School of Design and then completed a three-year pastry-chocolate apprenticeship in his native Switzerland. Since that time, Chef Hitz developed a passion for baking exquisitely crafted bread that has earned him national and international recognition. He is currently the Department Chair for the International Baking and Pastry Institute at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Chef Hitz competed in the 2004 National Bread & Pastry Team Championship where his two-person team won the Gold Medal and Hitz independently swept all three individual bread awards. In 2002 he represented the USA as a member of the Bread Bakers Guild Team at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (World Cup of Baking) in Paris, France, where the team took home the Silver Medal. He has been a guest intructor and judge at many national and international culinary schools and events and serves on the Advisory Board of the Bread Bakers Guild of America.

Ciril Hitz has been featured on The NBC Today Show and The Food Network and has been honoured as a Top Ten Pastry Chef by Pastry Art & Design magazine in 2007 and 2008. He is the producer of two DVD series, Bread Art and Better Bread, and the author of the book, Baking Artisan Bread (Quarry Books/2008), and numerous magazine articles. For more information, visit www.breadhitz.com.