Posted by The Chef:
Having just returned from an extended stay in France where we enjoyed the pleasures of French foods, I embarked on an attempt to find a faithful reproduction of one of the simplest pleasures, the French baguette - a real piece of bread. I went looking for bread with a crunchy exterior and a chewy, somewhat open grained interior. I went looking for bread like the bread we ate everyday in France; morning, noon, and night; every meal had this wonderful bread.
How hard could it be to find an acceptable baguette in Orange County? Answer: I am still searching for an authentic reproduction.
I knew going into the search that the fat, spongy, fine grained thing that our grocery stores bake and place in a paper bag with “French Bread” written on it would not satisfy. Unfortunately, what I found so far – with a couple of exceptions - hasn’t much been better.
Here are my initial results:
Pascal Epicerie: Grade = F
I figured this would be the winner going in and my search could quickly end. Surely you’d think this Frenchman would have the baguette thing down. He runs a set of exceptional restaurants and his Epicerie has a nice selection of French products, including a very nice wine selection and moderate prices. Regretfully, this was the worst baguette. It was completely void of taste, though it did have a pleasing crunch (but eating crunchy nothing is not what I was looking for). The interior texture was totally wrong: fine grained like store bought sliced white bread (the latter actually has a better taste). All in all, this was very disappointing.
Whole Foods Organic Baguette: Grade = C
Once again, I am amazed at the mediocrity of Whole Foods’ overall quality of food. It may be one of (if not THE) best grocery store(s) in Orange County, but when I compare it to virtually any large grocery store in France, it simply doesn’t compare. While the baguette’s taste was okay (though it needed a saltier bite) and the texture was okay (except it wasn’t chewy enough), the major problem was the totally wrong texture of the crust. I think the crust would probably be fine if they didn’t stick the loaves into a sealed bag – something you will never see at a boulangerie in France! The stack the loaves vertically in baskets to keep that perfect *crunch* and there’s no reason Whole Foods shouldn’t do the same.
La Brea Bakery (purchased at Albertson’s): Grade = B-
Texture was good – nice and chewy. The taste was good as well, but needed a saltier bite also. Unfortunately, the crust suffered from the similar treatment as Whole Foods – not the crunch and mouthfeel of a perfect baguette.
So apparently this will be an ongoing saga…the search continues…
