La Baguette
Our famous…simply the best ! This is the
bread that must be on the table,
cut into small pieces of 6 to 8 cms [3 in.] long, presented in
a basket.
Although bread consumption is decreasing in France (divided by
5 in the last
century), it remains a key ingredient in French food. Only 4%
of the French
never eat bread.
Baguette that is a relatively recent product in French culture
(it was created
in the 1920's) remains the main bread and accounts for 80% of
all bread
consumed in France. 10 billion baguettes are produced each year
in France
(which means half a baguette per French people per day).
Average weight for a baguette is 250 g [9 oz]. Contrary to other
breads,
French baguette does not preserve well and has to be consumed
very rapidly.
Price for a baguette in a traditional bakery is at the moment
around 0.7 Euros
($0.6). Price of the baguette was until recently very sensitive
and until 1978
it was fixed by state.
Recently, in addition to the normal baguette, several new sorts
of baguettes
have been launched that are considered as better quality but are
also more
expansive : baguette à l'ancienne (traditional), au levain (leaven),
aux lardons (lardoons)…
Other types of bread
Farmhouse bread "pain de campagne"
Made from the oldest traditional recipes, and best wheat flours,
it is presented
as a large round loaf with a crispy crust. Fresh slices will be
displayed in the
bread-basket with the baguette, or when slightly toasted will
be perfect to
prepare canapés with assorted cheeses…
Actually it is the only bread onto which you can spread anything
and
matches flavors perfectly well.
Sandwich bread "pain de mie"
It can be white or whole, it is slightly sweet ; square, it is
easy to use
to make canapés. Prefer the brown one, because it is less sweat
and
so does not kill the flavor of what you spread on. It's perfect
for cheese,
smoked salmon or pâté toasts…Choose high flavored food to
have it so that
the bread does not hide the perfume and toast it at the very last
minute.
Whole wheat bread "pain complet" :
It is made of varieties of whole flours, it's not the lightest
bread, but it is
very particular and more original. Generally presented as a small
but long
loaf, it is perfect when sliced, toasted and buttered with smoked
salmon
or oysters.
Sweat bun type bread : unprecise translation for our "pain
au lait".
Actually this is the bread for foie gras. Slightly sweet,
it can be used for
other types of mousse pâtés.
Bread Consumption in France
The average daily bread consumption per Frenchman in 1996 was
160 gr
[5 oz] compared to 900 gr [2 lbs] a century earlier (a baguette
is 250 gr
[1/2 lb]). This makes 58 kgs [129 lbs] per year, and I was surprised
to see
that it is much less than in many European countries such as Poland
(100 kg / 222 lbs), Germany (81 kg / 180 lbs) or Italy (73 kg
/ 162 lbs).
I have to say that our baguette is very light !
