schnauzer

Here is a link to the winner of the best baguette in Paris. The bakery happens to be in the 18th arr, reasonably near to where I am staying in a few weeks time - yay, how good is that?
Some interesting bits on the baguette as well to read.
http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/c...src=newsletter

Schnauzer

kerouac

While I'm sure it must be nice to taste the best baguette in Paris, there are plenty of 'good enough' baguettes which have allowed me not to change <i>boulangerie</i>. The 'best baguette' award has been in the 18th arrondissement for the past 3 years, and even though I live in the 18th, I have never gone out of my way for one of them.

Ann1

kerouac: Am I incorrect is thinking that to be called a baguette it must be one specific recipe? So what would the difference be? In the baking?

saige

It's a baguette in Paris. How could you go wrong?

nukesafe

bookmarking

Ann1

My husband and I spend a lot of time in Italy. He truly believes the French respect their bread more. He loves walking out of a boulangerie with the little piece of paper wrapped around the baguette and eating the bread as he walks down the street.....it's heaven to him.

cigalechanta

there are so many bakers in Paris, I refuse to belive they can judge one as te best.

Echnaton

This "best baguette"-contest is a marketing initiative geared against baguettes which are baked in bread factories in Poland and which are shipped to French supermarkets. The contest shall direct public attention to small, traditional bakeries.

I assume the award-winning bakery is not worth a detour. As Kerouac has said, you will find enough small bakeries in your immediate neighbourhood (regardless where you are in Paris) which bake excellent baguettes and other breads. Just let your nose guide you.

zoecat

I have visited this bakery and just wanted to add that it is a very charming place and if you are in the area, worth a visit. There is seating inside and a few tables in front. Also, there is a great cheese shop nearby on the same side of the street.

nukesafe

A question. Someone once told me that the reason that there are so many boulangeries in France is that the bakers have a monopoly on the type of flour used in making baguettes and, since the householder can't get that flour, little baking is done in the home.

Is this true?

Jeff801

Nukesafe,

All questions about bread, and perhaps more, are amswered in a delightful book, "The Bread of Three Rivers." The author, Sara Mansfield Taber, spends most of the book on the four components, salt, water, yeast, and flour. We loved it.

Incidentally, I was a bit skeptical about the passion for baguettes until I spent a week at the Marriott near Euro Disney. In the nearby small town, we found that the baguettes from the local bakery had to be purchased in duplicate at least. They were so fresh and good that we were unable to get one back to the kitchen without having at least one to eat in, or on the way to, the car.

I would like the think that was the result of the quality of the baguette rather than our lack of impulse control.

nukesafe

I know exactly what you mean, Jeff. One of my fondest memories is from our first French canal trip many, many, years ago. I would get up very early, put the bicycle ashore, and ride down the towpath in the mist to the nearest village. There, I would find the boulangerie by nose; literally sniffing to smell the baking bread. Into the shop, where the baker, often whitened with flour, would sell me hot still baguettes. I would strap those to the carrier and head back to the boat to feed our hungry brood of four kids.

I ALWAYS got at least one extra loaf, as I couldn't help tearing off chunks to eat one-handed as I pedaled back. I'd arrive covered with crumbs and a big smile on my face.

Wonderful!

lgnutah

thanks for the link
seeing the photos of that marvelous bread makes me want to go to Paris again

Aduchamp1

I am a bread cuckoo and one morning years ago I took the metro to Poilâne, just to have their bread fresh.

We live in NYC and what happens is that the media gets tired of picking the same winners for this and that and think it is hip to pick a new champ for this or that. So I am suspect. At times the new choices are sensational and others quizzical.

saige

Adu, I have a German friend who calls herself a soup fool, but I've never heard of a bread cuckoo!

Aduchamp1

SAIGE,

I am also a computer ignoramus.

I can look at the color and texture of a bread's crust and tell you whether I will like it or not.

Aduchamp1

Sorry, hit the send button too soon. Although I have never been the business, the staff and I had a long conversation at Taillevent as to how they made such wonderful bread.

Echnaton

>>>Someone once told me that the reason that there are so many boulangeries in France is that the bakers have a monopoly on the type of flour used in making baguettes and, since the householder can't get that flour, little baking is done in the home. <<<

I have a friend who is a baker and he told me something about baking bread:

1) Yes, the boulangeries use a special flour for white bread "pain" and "baguette" which is not available for consumers.

2) The ovens that boulangeries use are much hotter and much bigger than household ovens. If you put dough in a household oven, it cools the oven so much that the result is poor. This is the main reason that you cannot bake a good bread with a crispy crust at home. (Same with steaks.)

3) Bread in France is dirt cheap, so why bothering with baking?