When I landed in Paris years ago fresh off the farm truck as we say in the South – the only words I knew in French were written on a piece of paper tucked away in my passport: the numbers 1-20, bonjour, baguette and s’il vous plait.
Walking in to my first bakery I beamed, “Bonjour! Baguette s’il vous plait!” and walked out completely puzzled by the dark charred stick of bread with sharp pointy ends I held in my hands. It looked like someone had set fire to it and left it to burn all night.
The next day, I found another bakery and tried again, “Bonjour! Baguette s’il vous plait!” Hopes were let down again by a limp and pale bread, with rounded ends and doughy in the middle.
What was I doing wrong? Why wasn’t asking for a baguette getting consistent or good results?
Actually, now I know that they were sold by very good bakeries, I just didn’t know some subtle differences that make all the difference.
I had no idea then that there were boulangeries selling “ordinaire” baguettes and artisanal bakeries selling “baguettes de tradition”, or that the French walk into their bakeries and ask for their baguettes, bread and croissants the way most other folks order red meat cooked, medium “pas trop cuite” and well-done “bien cuite.”
The “burned” baguette was an artisanal baguette de tradition given to me “bien cuite” (the way the French prefer them cooked) simply because I’d not specified any different. Adding further to the confusion, these artisanal bakeries customer’s don’t even bother asking for a “baguette de tradition”…since that is all the bakery sells, they just ask for a baguette or “tradi.”
The soft doughy bread was a regular “ordinaire” baguette undercooked “pas trop cuite” again, because I didn’t specifiy the difference.
Hello? Moving to France should include some sort of welcome packet for ordering bread (and coffee, but that is a story for another day.)
So, what was it that I didn’t I know?
Regular baguettes have rounded ends and are made with flour, salt and bakers yeast which “rises” the bread in a few hours.
Baguette de Tradition baguettes are made at artisanal boulangeries and have pointed ends and are made with flour, salt and “levain” instead of baker’s yeast. The levain is a natural type of sourdough – wild yeast that needs way more love and attention than baker’s yeast since levain starters can take several days. Because of that extra love and attention, they do cost a bit more, but only slightly.
Baguettes de Tradition by law must be mixed, kneaded, leavened and baked on premises, no freezing. They can only be made with four ingredients–wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. To be authentic however, both must measure between 50 and 70 centimeters and weigh between 240-300 grams.
Regardless if you’re ordering a baguette or baguette du tradition – the “crumb” inside should be full of lots of different-sized air holes – if it looks like a hot dog bun or Wonderbread when cut in half, you’ve got an industrial bread on your hands.
Years later when I could ask my French friends why they prefer the “bien cuite” breads, they said, “Ah, but Wendy, it is all about a good crust!”
It took some time, but I too learned to appreciate the purpose of the bien cuite crust – it is so much easier to put bits of paté on and then there’s that using it to sop up a great sauce thing that I love so much.
The next time you are in a boulangerie, have a look at any and all of the breads – it is fun to see them in all shades of light to dark based on how long and what temperature they’ve been baked.
But I’m no bread snob… when people ask what my favorite bakery is, I tell them, “The one on my street.”
I love a great baguette as the next person, but I am not about to get up early in the morning, shower, dress, cross town, and climb hundreds of stairs on Montmartre for the “Best Traditional Baguette in Paris” – when the regular baguettes bien cuite downstairs at the bakery make a perfect wonderful butter and jam canvas with my café au lait at 7 am.
Thanks Wendy for this information post … love your blog! (referred by David Lev’s
)
Excellent! Im writing down these tips for my trip to Paris this weekend – thank you so much for sharing!
mais bien sur !! when i said breton – who else would we be talking about ?
hope to break bread (with some of that butter) with you in paris soon…
love this post ! and love the color of that square of butter above, yummm. i could seriously eat just good parisian baguette and breton salted butter for meals, and that’s it. i mean, and dessert, obviously.
excellent post wendy, i am sure this will be an education for so many people who miss out on these subtleties. can’t wait to be back in paris, ordering my tradi bien cuite !
Merci Kerrin! It is Bordier butter – but you knew that!