Paris Baguette

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Mel_J on

Hello TFL!

I just got back from Paris yeterday. I miss the GREAT baguettes from Paris. I was baking baguettes before I went to Paris, but was never successful. I had made up a list of restaurants, patisseries, and boulangeries that I wanted to visit while in Paris, and Eric Kayser Boulangerie was one of them. In my little notebook/journal, I had noted that the baguettes were good, so my husband and I went to the closest Eric Kayser and bought the Baguette Monge at 7am. My husband couldn't wait till we get back to the apartment to eat the baguette, so he broke off a piece and ate it as we were walking back towards the apartment. He said is was very good, so I had to try it too. He was RIGHT! It was sooo good. It was one of the best baguette we've ever had. We continued to visit Eric Kayser every morning for our baguette. YUMMM!

Now that I'm back home, I miss the baguette. I would like to buy a bread cookbook but I don't know what to get. I know Eric Kayser has a few cookbooks out there but I'm not sure if the baguette recipe is in the book. Any suggestions on what to get?

Oh thank you David, that's so nice of you!

I have been testing some bakery flour, a T55 gruau, so with the additives (you know how I hate those!). "Professional curiosity" I guess you'd say. Makes baguettes child's play. But nothing beats the organic T55 with nothing added in terms of taste.

Jane

Hello, Mel!  I'am very curious as to what the crumb looks like on an original Baguette Monge from EK Bouangerie in Paris!  Would you care to share this information,  please?

Sylvia

 

David,

Thank you for the link. I will definitely check it out.

 

Sylvia,

We took some pictures of the baguette. I'll post it later today.

Hi Mel,

Here in the Washington, DC area, an amateur baker (aka ringer) named Sam Fromartz won a city-wide competition among bakeries to see who could produce the best baguette.  It was sponsored by a local paper, the City Paper. 

Although an amateur (I believe he writes for a living), Fromartz spent a little time working in a boulangerie in Paris, and so his recipe attempts to reproduce a good parisian baguette.  I've baked it a number of times and it's certainly worth a shot - the hydration makes good scoring a challenge, but the bottom line is taste and it's good.

His recipe can be found here: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=37194

Larry

PS- one interesting aspect is that his recipe includes a very small amount of whole wheat flour - something not 'traditional' in baguettes, but a good addition I think in this recipe.

 

This one my favorite baguettes and I have attempted making it a couple of times.  Only being able to guess what the crumb should look like and with Janedo's instructions did increase the hydration.

Eric Kayser's Baguette Monge.  These photos are from my last attempt posted in my blog.  I used KA All Purpose flour.

Sylvia

At Kayser's there is another baguette that has an even more open crumb. I don't remember the name (it's was a weird one and I can't find it on the net). The Monge has a normal crumb but good taste. I have to admit that I have a preference for the Bouabsa baguette. It's baguette perfection in my book.

Sylvia,

I love your bread crust. It looks very good. How do you get it to do that? Do you glaze it?

Thank you, Mel!  It was just injected steam under my steamer lid.  No glazing!  Now I think there would be better results using the iron pan with lava rocks.  Also the loaves were placed rather close together to fit under the lid..I placed 3 loaves.  Steaming without the lid would give me more space between the baguettes.  Their sides would brown better and have a nicer crust.  Next try.

Sylvia

Janedo,

I actually like the other baguette that you mentioned a little more than the monge but my husband likes the monge better. We wanted to go to Anis Bouabsa's boulangerie but we didn't really know where it was and my french was really bad. We mostly visited the boulangeries near the apartment in the 6th arr. It would have been nice to be able to taste Bouabsa's baguette. I guess I'll have to plan another trip to Paris... Thank you for sharing all the wonderful bread recipes. :)

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Mel_J on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 10:41

Yes! I went to Poilane but I didn't realize I could go downstairs till I got home. I also went to Gerard Mulot, Laduree, Pierre Herme and Patrick Roger.

Jane,

The other baguette from Kayser is called Malesherbes (I think). It has a square tip. The picture above is actually the square tip baguette from Kayser.

Yep, that's it!

I haven't had the opportunity to go to all those other shops. I always go to a shop call G. Detou (which phonetically means I have everything) to buy vanilla pods, chocolate, nuts, pastry ingredients, etc. It's a bakers's heaven. I ran out of the vanilla extract and am now making my own with the zillion pods I bought there.

I need to get back there, though, because even though I love the country, I like to ressource once in awhile and see what's going on in the outside world. I just read this book:

http://www.amazon.fr/Au-Revoir-All-That-France/dp/1596913533/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1253467327&sr=1-14

and it made me want to go try all the bistros in Paris! Won't be for a while though. Tant pis!

Jane