Baguette

You may be asking yourself, why in the heck is Kevin writing a post on bread.
Well, you see, when you practice what I call "immersion travel" you begin to pick-up on so many of the little details of daily life that create the "fabric" of that local life.
In France, and perhaps nowhere more than here in the South, a baguette is just such a detail. For someone from the States who has not experienced French life firsthand, it is difficult to imagine that something as simple as bread could play such an important role in their daily life.
What an understatement!
For us bread is an accessory to the meal. But to a Frenchman, it is integral. Every meal from breakfast thru dinner will have a basket of sliced fresh baguette at the center of the table. From the simplist cafe to the finest resturant and in every French home, no meal is complete without that obligatory basket of baguette.
The French chef Jaques Pepin once noted that if he could have only one food for the rest of his life he would choose fresh bread with butter.
Wow!
Now, about that bread. What we call French bread in the States, soft and spongy, would be unrecognizable to a Frenchman. In fact no bread made outside of an authentic French boulangerie will do. These "temples to bread" exist in all towns large or small. Our village of around 17K has at least seven that I know of. Amazing! Even the tiniest of villages will have at least one boulangerie.
And as for baguettes, the only acceptable bread, there are no simple choices.
There are the common baguettes (round ends with slashes on top). Banetts (pointy ends also with slashes on top, and usually a bit more brown on top). Baguettes "ancien style" dark and crusty on the outside with loose flour to get all over your lips and clothes.
Yes there are so many styles of baguette that even I, a confirmed baguette lover, am not thouroughly fimilar with them all, but my quest continues.
And, then there is the matter of the dough, much debate on this issue. Is it made fresh daily or does it arrive frozen from a factory to be finished locally? Everybody has their favorite style, shape and boulangerie and if asked they will pontificate for hours on the virtues of one over another. Really!
Some of my fondest memories in France have got to be sitting in a cafe and observing the "rituals of the baguette". Since you are never far from a boulangerie or a cafe, this is easy.
It happens at least three times a day. You begin to see people, all kinds of people with baguettes. Many will be carring one as intended by it's midsection where it is wrapped with a little paper sleeve at the boulangerie. Others will have them poking out of shopping bags, bicycle bags, backpacks and baby strollers. Suddenly, everywhere you look you see people with baguettes! I've seen them folded and put into a man's attache case, taped to the horizontal bar of a bike, carried while riding the bike and drooping at the middle, or, even once sticking out of the top of a traditional rolling shopping cart shared by a little lap dog who seemed more interested in the passersbye than in the baguette. It is also not uncommon to see someone with a floursack full of baguettes sticking out, walking down the sidewalk. Resturant staff I'll assume. (You know, it's worthy of note that here, everyone tries to do business with one another).
Yep! At a certian hour, if you look around, nearly everyone that you see will have one or more baguettes being carried in some fashion or another. Beginning early in the morning, the boulanger opens at around 7AM, just prior to lunch 12ish and around 5-6 PM. Yes- thats right- three times a day!
Just for fun Sandy and I like to see just how many of the baguettes have the end nibbled off- more do than don't.
Now it took us no time at all to fall right into this daily routine. We have our favorite- round ended "ancien style" baguette , well browned and crispy from our favorite boulanger, "Daniel Surirey". We often find ourselves in a que 8-10 deep to secure these beauties- "une baguette sil-vous plaits". .90e and a what a bargain!
About now, your'e probably rolling your eyes and thinking, whatever, but remember, a revolution was fought partly over the shortage of this bread. So, what's the big deal? Quite simply, it's the best bread you'll ever eat in your life.
Somewhere about here, Sandy suggest that maybe I describe the sensual experience of eating this awesome bread. Well here goes, let's try:
The thick dark golden brown crust -a slight nutty smell to the nose- crackles into small pieces scattering all over the table top and onto your lap as you break off a piece. A sharp crisp edge breaking off as you take a bite and digging slightly into your mouth. You salivate uncontrolably as the rich, pretzel like taste permeates your mouth. Then follow with a bite of the soft -not too soft- white, chewey center, it too possessing a rich wheat flavor. It's just pure bread!
Best enjoyed warm right from the boulanger (I could eat a whole one by myself before I get it home, but I won't). Slightly steaming under your nose as you bite, crackle into that crust and into that soft chewey bread center.
Oh yuuum!
So good with EVOO, although I must admit no one over here routinely does this, it seems to be an American thing, but best I think with lightly salted warm (don't give me cold) butter.
OOOh yeah!! Jaques was right!
It's also worthy of note here that the boulangers all seem to staff their counters with typically very pretty and very friendly young women. I had mentioned my observations to Sandy a while back who just cast a slightly raised eye in the direction of my by now my somewhat suspicious looking self, but, she too had noticed this "boulangers tradition".
I also have noticed no shortage of men queing up , buying and carrying these baguettes. Perhaps there's a conspiracy by the boulangers to entice the men into their shops and at the same time releve the wives of this "burdensome" chore. It appears to work. I for one can report that it is no chore at all to go to the boulanger twice daily when the staff is this easy on the eyes. Or? Perhaps it's really just for that heavenly just-baked aroma of the bread. You be the judge.
In any case, I now find that I too am unable to take a meal without this fimiliar basket (ok, bowl in my case, I really need to get a basket) of sliced fresh baguette .
As I continue my "slip into the blue" the baguette too has become yet another part of my "fabric of life".
A bientot,
Cousin