Last year, a new French bakery opened up in Cambridge - Maison Clement - and the bread is really excellent. But while it reminds me of the amazing bread in Taillens in Montana, it's this Taillens Alpine bread which I crave when I wake up. There's a wonderful loaf called a 'paillasse' (mattress) which is a sort of ciabata. Salty, crusty, chewy yet light. Truly excellent. It's the one on the left in this photo:
@DrLawn, yep that's it .... about 200m up Hills Road (i.e. towards the Station) from the Catholic Church at the Gonville Place junction. On the right walking towards the station.
And that sounds excellent....wine, bread and Alpine cheese....
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
DrLawn wrote:
I just love French Bread, just how do I get it home while its still fresh?
The best tip I got from the French baker who taught me how to make French baguettes, is to buy French flour, type 65 This led to mcspreader thinking I'm barmy when I loaded up on the stuff when he drove me to the supermarket after last year's EoSB! And if you can't make bread, I'll teach you. It's really very easy.
One of my earliest childhood memories is sitting on a bench, with an amazing summer mountain view, in Vermala (a tiny village, quite separate from Montana, which itself was quite separate from Crans) eating the blackest but sweetest of rye breads, with unsalted butter and morello cherry jam on it, washed down with Schloer. I'm drooling at the memory.
It's amazing how much more interesting French bread has become in the last 25 years or so. I remember the thrill of actually being able to buy wholemeal bread in a lot of places and not just variations on the baguette.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I think French bread has gone sadly downhill the last 20 years. Most of the bakeries seem to use frozen or part cooked dough, producing similar rubbish to what you get at a petrol station.
The good bakeries with the traditional methods still exist, but they are few and far between. There used to be one at place Wagram in Paris, with a 50m queue every morning. I wonder if it's still there, but I doubt it. People can't tell (or won't pay, or won't queue for) the difference these days and there lies the problem. Maybe it's also the lack of convenience in that the perfection only lasted a couple of hours before it went stale.
The Pain Paillase in the OP is pretty good. It's a registered trademark and you can get it here at many places in Lausanne at bakeries that I guess have bought into the licence. It's still a pale relation the French baguettes of the good old days.
Maybe I should start a thread "the best nostalgic, cantankerous old gits", but I think there's already a brexit thread.
After all it is free
After all it is free
What are paine and roblachon? Or does someone need a better typing accent?
@snoozeboy, I have a vague recollection that the authorities introduced official categorie for breadmakng, one of which denotes made from fresh ingredients in the traditional manner. Here we go, “http://www.federation-boulangerie-37.com/page-3-comment_identifier_un_artisan_boulanger.html” either “pain maison” or calling yourself a “boulanger” means no frozen elements to th process.
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@Hurtle, ...ah Pain Seigle...au Pain Noir. super quand on le mange avec un petit peu de beurre!
Or
Jolly nice with a bit of butter....
And the road to Vermala has changed a lot ... the small house with a beautiful meadow in front of it is now a small house overshadowed by a HUGE apartment block - and I mean HUGE, which is seldom occupied. But the top bit is still nice....
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Fri 23-03-18 9:18; edited 1 time in total
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https://bachstubn.at/ Fabulous bakery 200m from our stay in Flachau. It's not just the French that make terrific bread. Their seeded buns were particularly delicious.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snoozeboy wrote:
I think French bread has gone sadly downhill the last 20 years. Most of the bakeries seem to use frozen or part cooked dough, producing similar rubbish to what you get at a petrol station.
I completely agree it's easier to get good French style bread in London than in most French villages now. Even the supermarket baguettes are worse, I can buy better in Waitrose and Sainsbury's than the equivalent in French supermarkets which taste like the dross we use to get in the 80's.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@betterinblack, agreed, I would never buy bread in a supermarket in France.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@valais2, +1 for Paillasse, the best bread.....local butter and homemade Valais apricot jam
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Swissie, ....well what do you know...reason I posted this was that for breakfast in Cambridge I opened a jar of Apricot compote which was made last summer in the Valais with fruit from the roadside stalls (10kg box of the damaged and bruised ‘jam making apricots’) and put it on the local bread here, and thought, ‘....hmm...it’s nice...but I miss the paillasse....’.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Frosty the Snowman wrote:
https://bachstubn.at/ Fabulous bakery 200m from our stay in Flachau. It's not just the French that make terrific bread. Their seeded buns were particularly delicious.
lovely ice cream in the summer too.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:
I can buy better in Waitrose and Sainsbury's
Blimey, it must be bad.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Hi @valais2 I made it my mission to visit the Boulangerie today.
I set off on a Ofr bike across town and got myself a small Anciene (i think its called that)
I'm just enjoying it now .. with a bit of Comte and a glass of Bordeaux
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@DrLawn, excellent.... I will be having some for breakfast too...
mind you, when I am writing late at night, I do have a small bit of gruyere or similar - the required 40g - and I always sleep really badly after it, but fine when I don't have it...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
I've just finished Sunday lunch now, and there is no way I should be hungry ...
but this thread has got me going
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Arlbergspitz - kinda Ciabatta-ey but better.
Gotta say, bread is one thing Austria and Germany do really well.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Grimentz has a superb local baker.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
