France eats approximately 30 million baguettes a day.
Wow (that’s a half a baguette for everyone every day).
So do you think nothin’s special about France’s baguettes? If that’s how you feel, you’ve never had a REAL baguette. The kind kings, queens and regular people like me dream about when away from France. You can detect the REAL baguette immediately: the extra light and crispy on the outside, soft, luscious, perfectly cooked, fluffy light bread on the inside, and what’s more, it tastes omg good; no blandness, no tough (rip your teeth out) tennis shoe sole posing as food. The real baguette is a small pleasure and a huge part of French culture, that many people take for granted – and this perfect slice of French life is slowly disappearing.
I wonder if anyone is noticing the soon to be disappearing act of the beloved baguette. For people who’ve lived in France, it’s been a gradual change, but for me – between the time I was last in France several years ago to just 2 and a half years ago when I moved to France, I noticed that something bad happened and now the sacred baguette…sucks…
Those last two words should NEVER go together.
Upon some investigation, here’s what I found out. Some time in the 90s, the inescapable walmart effect began to rear its ugly bread – so with lower, unbeatable and unrivaled prices, large market chains began to sell industrial bread made with frozen dough in their store bakeries. (btw, you can tell bread made with frozen dough by the small round, symmetrical pattern markings on the bottom of the bread)
This was having a devastating effect on the independent boulangers, who would find it more and more difficult to compete with the rock bottom prices of the supermarkets. Enter stage right: Banette. Don’t be fooled by the signs that say Banette, artisan boulanger. If there’s a Banette sign outside the bakery like in the picture, it’s bread from industrial frozen dough. Banette solved many problems for the struggling Indie baker: less labor, comparable prices to the chains. A win-win situation? Me thinks NON! (shaking fist) At least not for the consumer. Now, I’m not saying bread made with Banette frozen dough is poison; it’s ok bread (just ok and on the mediocre side) — it’s just not the bread to which I am accustomed and it’s not one that I merit. I have a discerning palate and I want a REAL baguette. I live in France and I frickin want a real baguette!!!
Luckily, my tantrum is not permanent (for now) because not all bakers joined the Banette camp, though a LOT of them have, sadly. Take notice (and do find the real deal), because this is what will happen if no one cares: Consumers’ indifference will spread slowly but surely like the dark evil of the black plague, filling up on the industrial so-called baguette – and then the frozen Belly of Banette will burst and ooze at the seams while more and more bakers join the Banette bandwagon to survive. The real baguette will be harder and harder to find and at some point, be impossible to find – because it no longer exists. Wahhhhhhhhh. What a sad story!
5 Comments so far
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it’s true they’re getting harder to find. Still one can find some traditional boulangers and the boulegeries PAUL, despite their huge network of over 200 franchisees, still offer the real baguette you’re talking about. Just ask at the counter for the traditional “flute”, it’s a smaller size baguette that’s exquisite. It’s cooked the same way they did it 100 years ago, same recepie and tastes really great. I like the feel of finding flour dust on it.
Comment by SKIDOO 02.27.06 @ 7:52 pmi’m going to try the flute next time i’m near a paul! i love the REAL baguettes!
Comment by ptinfrance 02.28.06 @ 6:25 amif you live in Paris then you can check out one of the 10 best boulangeries — http://www.linternaute.com/villes/paris/diaporama/06/meilleure-boulangerie/meilleures-boulangeries/1.shtml
I personally when to “Le 140″ as I used to live in the 19th district, but I’ve been to the one in the 5th arrondissement and it’s just as good.
I don’t think there’s been a place in France I’ve been to that doesn’t have at least 1 good bakery in the vicinity (but then again I haven’t been to that many places).
Even in small villages that essentially live off tourism, you should find a good boulangerie as the French know their bread and are ready to pay for the quality, as well as go out of their way to get it (we’re talking about food there!)
I think in this story we should be optimistic because I don’t think the real baguette and its tradition is nowhere near to disappearing.
thanks for that link!!
paris is sort of the exception and it’s easier to find good bakers there but you WILL see more and more banette bakeries all over.
i hope you’re right, julie! but i’m skeptical about it. i’ve lived in the south of france (nice, vence), the southwest (bordeaux area), the north (near boulogne) and now i live in bourgogne. and it’s been very disappointing. we did find really great bakeries in dijon and beaune, however. yay!
Comment by ptinfrance 04.26.06 @ 1:23 amI live in Epinal a little city (50,000 people) and there is some bakeries witch provide good baguettes but some other make or sell not very good, you have to ask people to know where to go or try different places
Comment by Missteigne 09.08.06 @ 7:14 amLeave a comment
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