Best and Authentic French Baguette Recipe - Cook with Kushi (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret of best baguette? ›

One of the secrets of a great baguette is to start with a sponge (a mix of flour, water, and yeast), which gives the yeast time to mature and combine with the other ingredients, creating the mildly sour and nutty flavors and chewy texture.

A French baguette de tradition is obliged to respect a number of rules. For example, it cannot be frozen in any way while being made (such as freezing pieces of dough), nor may it contain any additives or enhancers that might be used to facilitate or shorten one or several stages in the cooking process.

The Parisian bread is a bread of exceptional quality, made from wheat flour, and that offers a fine crust and a generous crumb. Smaller than large Parisian bread, this bread retains its soft texture and thin crust. Fine crust and a generous crumb. Made from malted wheat flour.

First and foremost, the flour used in France is of very high quality. But the major difference between French and an American baguette is the fermentation process. Most French bakers use a poolish process, which consists of a mix of yeast and water that's allowed to ferment overnight.

Baguette or pain courant, which is what we typically call “French bread,” would be more of a commercial style (cottony texture and yeasted) whereas baguette de tradition would be more of the long-fermented style.

Overall, the ideal flour for baguettes should have a moderate protein content, a fine texture, and should be of high quality. While traditional French type 55 flour is the ideal choice, a combination of all-purpose and bread flour can also work well in its place.

You don't slather butter over your baguette. If you must have butter, you can put a pat on a small piece of bread, but not on a slice. No sandwiches!

Of the four main types of baguettes — baguette ordinaire, baguette moulée (moulded baguette), baguette farinée (floured baguette), and baguette de tradition (traditional baguette) — the baguette de tradition is the true artisanal loaf, calling on the skills of the baker as outlined in the Bread Law.

Setting them on a preheated stone pumps heat quickly into the center of the loaves so that they spring up quickly and evenly. (A preheated sheet pan can work in the absence of a stone. I don't recommend baking baguettes on a baking steel, however, since it's too conductive and the breads are likely to burn.)

Pane Francese simply means “French bread”. An Italian version of the baguette, it is a slightly flatter long loaf with irregular holes in its interior and moist crumb. It is creamy tasting and soft textured because of the olive oil added to the dough.

What is the Italian version of a baguette? ›

Filone. Another Tuscan bread on the list, the filone is similar to the famous French baguette in shape. Its name comes from the word filo which means line – referring to the shape of the bread. Made with flour, olive oil, yeast, water, and salt, filone has a hard crispy crust and a light airy crumb inside.

The French bread law

The law states that traditional baguettes have to be made on the premises they're sold and can only be made with four ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. They can't be frozen at any stage or contain additives or preservatives, which also means they go stale within 24 hours.

You can eat a baguette every day and be healthy, but the key is portion size and what you're eating with your baguette. It's important to note that baguettes are particularly high in carbohydrates and sodium, so you should choose your portion size based on your diet and overall health goals.

The baguette is one of France's most-loved loaves and is eaten throughout the day. Baguettes can be eaten as early as breakfast time—often toasted, buttered, and dunked in coffee. It's a source of carbohydrates and the fiber necessary to start the day off right! Fruit jam can also be added for an extra treat.

The texture of French bread, a soft inside and lots of crunchy outer surface, comes with a cost. It has no oil, so it dries hard and the shape of the loaf makes it dry out quickly. The packaged loaves popular in the US have preservatives added so they don't go moldy, and they go stale slowly.

In France, bakers pay careful attention to where their flour is made and which grains are used in the milling process. The result is usually softer, heartier, and tastier bread than can be found in other parts of the world. French flour tends to be made with a lower ash content than the flour from other countries.

Unlike other loaves, the baguette is made with only four ingredients (flour, water, salt and leaven and/or yeast) from which each baker obtains a unique product.

Use steam: To create steam in your oven, place a tray of hot water on the bottom rack of your oven or spray water on the sides and bottom of the oven right before putting the bread in the oven. The steam helps create a crisp crust on the bread.

Tharshan Selvarajah was named the best baker. The winner was baguette number 142, baked by Sri Lankan Tharshan Selvarajah. His bakery Au Levain des Pyrénées is located in a nondescript corner of eastern Paris's 20th arrondissem*nt neighborhood, far from the palaces that make up the center of the capital's public life.