Baking with the Bread Whisperers of Paris(saveur.com)
saveur.com
Baking with the Bread Whisperers of Paris
http://www.saveur.com/baker-apprentice-frederic-lalos
7 comments
I used to live a couple of doors down from a traditional family run bakery in Bury St Edmunds (sadly closed in 98 or 99).
Bakery hours were a mixed blessing, the wonderful smell of fresh baked bread needs no introduction, but in the summer when I left my windows open at night the smell alone would wake me far too early — not really complaining, the towns other dominant odours are from a brewery and a sugar beet processing plant.
Bakery hours were a mixed blessing, the wonderful smell of fresh baked bread needs no introduction, but in the summer when I left my windows open at night the smell alone would wake me far too early — not really complaining, the towns other dominant odours are from a brewery and a sugar beet processing plant.
Interesting: so when you say 'no added oil' you mean just the fresh-milled flour, salt, water and sourdough/yeast?
Pretty sure GP means yes. Bread literally just needs flour, salt, yeast, and water. White flour has little to no oil. Whole wheat flour does but the oils to go rancid too quickly. You don't need just-milled whole wheat flour to make good whole wheat bread. White flour doesn't need any added oil.
Edit: Anyone interested in learning to cook, Americas Test Kitchen Cooking School (And also Cooks Illustrated Cooking Science and Science of Good Cooking) would probably be good for much of HN's audience. It is much more of a cooking "textbook" than most cookbooks. It explains what you are doing and why you do it instead of just a big list of recipes. There is also Modernist Cuisine but those are really pricey.
Edit: Anyone interested in learning to cook, Americas Test Kitchen Cooking School (And also Cooks Illustrated Cooking Science and Science of Good Cooking) would probably be good for much of HN's audience. It is much more of a cooking "textbook" than most cookbooks. It explains what you are doing and why you do it instead of just a big list of recipes. There is also Modernist Cuisine but those are really pricey.
For bread, I don't think you can get much better than Tartine Bread [1]. Chad Robertson takes you through making bread from just flour, salt and water by making your own yeast starter.
For general cooking, I will also recommend La Technique [2], its short and digestible (puns always intended) increments of learning that, while old, are fundamental and classic.
If you can work through La Technique and something like Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking [3] (Which is great, but, very dense) you could move on to (and invest in -- they really are expensive) Modernist Cuisine [4], for which I think you need a good basic education on the fundamental building blocks of cooking.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F8H0FNW
[2] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812906101
[3] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WTIW93C/
[4] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0982761007
For general cooking, I will also recommend La Technique [2], its short and digestible (puns always intended) increments of learning that, while old, are fundamental and classic.
If you can work through La Technique and something like Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking [3] (Which is great, but, very dense) you could move on to (and invest in -- they really are expensive) Modernist Cuisine [4], for which I think you need a good basic education on the fundamental building blocks of cooking.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F8H0FNW
[2] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812906101
[3] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WTIW93C/
[4] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0982761007
Anyone interested in the Modernist Cuisine might check their public library.
We've got copies here in the Seattle system.
We've got copies here in the Seattle system.
These are great book recommendations!
I've been looking for stuff like this after reading "Cooking Comics" (by Lauren Thompson (Author) and Tsukuru Anderson (Illustrator)). It's a graphic novel/comic book but what's nice about it (beyond being aimed at beginners) is that they have this nice, systematic approach.
Start with stock, talk about why it's important and how it's done, move on to soups, demonstrate two types of soups, etc, etc. Each one has a simple recipe (and the ones I used worked well)
After reading it I'm totally jazzed about a 'cooking school textbook' sort of approach :)
I've been looking for stuff like this after reading "Cooking Comics" (by Lauren Thompson (Author) and Tsukuru Anderson (Illustrator)). It's a graphic novel/comic book but what's nice about it (beyond being aimed at beginners) is that they have this nice, systematic approach.
Start with stock, talk about why it's important and how it's done, move on to soups, demonstrate two types of soups, etc, etc. Each one has a simple recipe (and the ones I used worked well)
After reading it I'm totally jazzed about a 'cooking school textbook' sort of approach :)
I've found that the real skills gained with baking and cooking is when you stop and ask why. Anyone can follow a recipe. But books that explain the method behind the madness teach you more than simply how to make that one recipe.
The Food Lab is a great resource that also delves into the science behind the recipes and experiments to see what works, e.g. taller popovers, best taste and texture for chocolate chip cookies, etc.
I'm also a huge fan of America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated/Cook's Country (and I've found them to be extremely popular amongst engineers and science-types). During college a friend and I shared a subscription to their website catalog of recipes.
I'm ordering the Cooking School book as we speak. I'm currently trying to teach the bf how to cook and this seems like the perfect tool to go through.
Another recommendation I'd make for improvisational cooks/bakers is The Flavor Bible. It's great for "what do I do with these random ingredients in the fridge"?
I'm ordering the Cooking School book as we speak. I'm currently trying to teach the bf how to cook and this seems like the perfect tool to go through.
Another recommendation I'd make for improvisational cooks/bakers is The Flavor Bible. It's great for "what do I do with these random ingredients in the fridge"?
Yeah! So the bakery's speciality was whole wheat, which has lots of natural oils. You'll find that a lot of recipes for home using store-bought flour (whether whole wheat or white) usually throw in few few tablespoons of melted butter or oil. My understanding is that this helps prevent the bread from drying out.
fyi you don't need oil to get moist loaves: source 20+ years of making naturally leavened and regular bread.
Do you simply omit the oil ingredients that are common in cookbooks?
The bread under discussion is itself part of a revolution. Since the invention of the steam oven a century before, French bread was the insipid, if iconic, industrial baguette. TOday's loaves are the result of a 1980s a reactionary movement in bread baking led by Lionel Poilâne. Poilâne revived artisanal bread, much more delicious and satisfying, which now we take for granted.
(Amusingly people liked his bread so much that there were always queues outside the bakery in the morning. In the Soviet Union they printed photos of this in the newspaper to show that even in the West there were bread queues, so all the claims of a better life there must be propaganda.)
The article also mentions Guy Savoy: his restaurant has three stars which is presumably why he is name-dropped. What they should have mentioned is that when you eat there, not only does the sommelier pair wine with your course, but a bread "sommelier" comes by with a special cart and recommends specific breads for each course as well.
Poilâne's shop in the 7th retains a lot of anachronisms: walk in and everybody greets each other, and the ladies behind the counter liked to hand little treats to my son when he was small.
(Amusingly people liked his bread so much that there were always queues outside the bakery in the morning. In the Soviet Union they printed photos of this in the newspaper to show that even in the West there were bread queues, so all the claims of a better life there must be propaganda.)
The article also mentions Guy Savoy: his restaurant has three stars which is presumably why he is name-dropped. What they should have mentioned is that when you eat there, not only does the sommelier pair wine with your course, but a bread "sommelier" comes by with a special cart and recommends specific breads for each course as well.
Poilâne's shop in the 7th retains a lot of anachronisms: walk in and everybody greets each other, and the ladies behind the counter liked to hand little treats to my son when he was small.
We were in Paris on vacation a couple of weeks ago and visited Poilâne. Wow. Lots of variety in this tiny shop, and everything we tried was amazing. We ended up going back the same day for more.
> a meal without bread is unthinkable in France.
It's an overstatement, it's totally thinkable (and in fact people often don't eat any bread depending on the kind of meal).
It's an overstatement, it's totally thinkable (and in fact people often don't eat any bread depending on the kind of meal).
This article is really doesn't tell me much about the bread-making process, the people who make it, or what the author actually did while on-site besides touch a hunk of dough. Was expecting more, especially from Saveur.
Agreed. It did make me hungry for bread though.
I have a friend who is a baker here (in the US) but I imagine it is quite different then working in France. The bakery she works does make bread, but the vast majority of what they sell are different kinds of sweets. I think there is a much lower demand for fresh bread here.
I spent some time post-college working as a baker; our primary output was bread (with some cookies, cakes, and brownies etc as well), but the vast majority of our bread was sold to local restaurants. If you're running a bakery that's selling direct to consumers, I can imagine that it would be pretty hard to make ends meet on bread alone.
This had the curious result that when I was in Carmel-By-The-Sea a few weeks ago, I went in to what was ostensibly called a "bakery" and tried to buy a baguette, only to be told that they only sold pastries and cookies and didn't make bread at all. I was extraordinarily put out by this.
This had the curious result that when I was in Carmel-By-The-Sea a few weeks ago, I went in to what was ostensibly called a "bakery" and tried to buy a baguette, only to be told that they only sold pastries and cookies and didn't make bread at all. I was extraordinarily put out by this.
Was it a French bakery, by chance? The French have traditionally distinguished between bakeries that bake breads and rolls (which they call a boulangerie) and bakeries that bake pastries and sweets (a pâtisserie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A2tisserie).
I dunno how much that distinction still holds in modern France in the era of the supermarket, of course. But it wouldn't be surprising to a see an upmarket French-inspired U.S. bakery using it as a way to signal authenticity.
I dunno how much that distinction still holds in modern France in the era of the supermarket, of course. But it wouldn't be surprising to a see an upmarket French-inspired U.S. bakery using it as a way to signal authenticity.
It was called "Carmel Bakery", so it didn't label itself as either a boulangerie OR a patisserie. It was very misleading.
About 400 miles to the north, there used to be a palindromic bakery (the Yreka Bakery):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yreka,_California#Palindromes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yreka,_California#Palindromes
Selling to restaurants is reliable but low-profit, because you're selling in bulk. Selling direct to consumers has a much better margin. Margins are not high in baking to begin with, so it helps. The direct demand can't be scheduled as easily, though, and baking bread is always at least hours of prep.
This is something that is a balance for any bakery - front end and back end operations; I have yet to find someplace that didn't do both.
This is something that is a balance for any bakery - front end and back end operations; I have yet to find someplace that didn't do both.
If I can find the recipe I will post it , there is a great French style bread I have made in the past. It takes a lot of elapsed time but not much extra time in terms of what you have to do. And the results are sublime.
Not "exactly" the same recipe, but close.
I remember that I let it rise 3 times and punched it down and re-kneaded (not just the stretch-and-fold), separated by maybe 45 minutes each time.
I seem to recall that I used King Arthur brand flour (no GMO's) and used bread flour with a smaller amount of thoroughly mixed in whole wheat flour.
Using the oven, I pre-heated to 375F and used a spray bottle to mist water onto all sides of the oven. Another suggestion of putting a cup of water into a cast iron skillet placed on the bottom rung of the oven, would probably work also. The purpose is not to dry out the crust so much that it becomes uncomfortably hard.
http://www.tastebook.com/blog/recipes/2699447-Pain-l-Ancienn...
I remember that I let it rise 3 times and punched it down and re-kneaded (not just the stretch-and-fold), separated by maybe 45 minutes each time.
I seem to recall that I used King Arthur brand flour (no GMO's) and used bread flour with a smaller amount of thoroughly mixed in whole wheat flour.
Using the oven, I pre-heated to 375F and used a spray bottle to mist water onto all sides of the oven. Another suggestion of putting a cup of water into a cast iron skillet placed on the bottom rung of the oven, would probably work also. The purpose is not to dry out the crust so much that it becomes uncomfortably hard.
http://www.tastebook.com/blog/recipes/2699447-Pain-l-Ancienn...
Ghostery counted 95 libraries -- without blocking, it literally cripples my MBPr on load.
> cripples my MBPr on load
AMD E-350 laptop from 2011 loads fine. Something is terribly wrong with your computer or your config.
AMD E-350 laptop from 2011 loads fine. Something is terribly wrong with your computer or your config.
Thinkpad X200/4Gb/Chromium 57/OpenBSD: takes around 20 seconds to load (not very good adsl) then scrolls fine and smooth. No add-ins.
nice baking video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUuKstAWof4
A few sporadic notes from the experience:
- Good bread is less about secret ingredients and more about process.
- Milling flour on site was how we made moist loaves with little to no added oil. The natural oils in the wheat go rancid quickly after the wheat is milled. Similarly, nutrient levels tank.
- Bakery hours are awful. In order to have fresh loaves for the day, the sponge person is up before 3am mixing everything for the first rise.
- Breadmaking is an art. Ingredient proportions are more like guidelines and the actual amount of flour/water/etc can vary wildly with the weather/climate.
- Random skill acquisition: I can "dual-wield" loaves of bread on the kneading table (aka knead two loaves at the same time for higher throughput). Also I can roll rolls. Which is harder than you'd think.
Zero regrets with the experience. A few days ago I realized we forgot to buy buns for the pulled pork sandwiches we were making and I was able to look up a recipe and make my own from scratch. The pulled pork was good, but people flipped out about how fantastic the buns were.