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« Chocolate, On Rue Tatin June 12, 2005
I've dedicated a healthy portion of my life walking the streets and boulevards of Paris to find grainy bread here. I know I shouldn't complain. There's a boulangerie on every corner. You can get excellent baguettes or a nice loaf of pain au levain just about anywhere. But it's hard to find a loaf of bread with lots of seeds and stuff in it. Stübli makes dense, authentic German breads, but on my last visits the breads I lugged home were mushy and uninteresting, and no longer worth the schlep across Paris...even though it's a good excuse to make the voyage to Alléosse, the mind-blowing cheese shop on the rue Poncelet. There's a dinky, uninspired-looking joint on the rue Faubourg-Poissonière that makes sensational baguettes totally covered with golden sesame seeds that is wonderful toasted for breakfast. I crave this bread and make the voyage there often. But it's out of the way, and somewhat depressing, so no one goes there and I'm afraid they'll be closing soon. Here are some of my favorite breads from various bakeries across Paris. Although I do love a traditional, crackly baguette paired with cheese, or toasted slices of hearty boule rustique slathered with homemade confiture for breakfast, these are the sturdy, hearty breads that I enjoy most here in Paris. 
Norlander Bread I learned about this bread from Clotilde's explorations and it's a favorite. Tight and compact, Norlander bread is the heaviest bread I've found in Paris. And it's also small, making it the perfect bread for a little afternoon snack with some contraband peanut butter, which a friend smuggled out of an American army base in Switzerland.
Pain Nordique I've been told the Grand Epicerie makes over 80 different kinds of bread underground, beneath this enormous food emporium. This is a lighter, airy bread, yet full of lots of sunflower seeds and a good amount of oat flakes. It's excellent sliced-thin and toasted. But get there early: for some reason, by mid-afternoon they start feeding all the Pain Nordique loaves into the slicing machine and bagging them up.
Pain aux Cereales This is perhaps the best bread in the world.
Tradigrains When the quality of the baguettes of my local boulanger, Au Levain du Marais, slid downhill after their month-long summer vacation a few years ago, I agonized over the loss for weeks and weeks. I was torn. In France, your live your life according to your local bakery. You know when the loaves go in and come out of the oven, when the baker is off, and how to get the baguette cooked just the way you like it (bien cuite, svp!) You adjust your life, since most bakeries are closed two days of the week, so you need to plan your schedule and meals around those two days. My supreme disappointment lasted for months until I discovered this grainy Tradigrain loaf at Au Pain de Saint-Gilles in the Marais, just a few blocks from chez David. Now this is proudly my baguette of choice. Do you see why?
Comments Beatifull breads. Is there a possibility to see some delicious bread recipes at your site? Posted by Altaf at June 13, 2005 5:43 AM Since I'm surrounded by all these great bakeries, I'll let them slave over a hot brick oven all day long. I'll stick to brownies, cakes, and cookies. David Posted by David at June 13, 2005 9:42 AM Hello, Posted by Michele at June 13, 2005 10:54 AM Bonjour Michele, and welcome to Paris...it's a marvelous place to live. Today I visited the St. Chapelle church and my jaw literally dropped (yes, really!) when I walked in. I've never seen anything like that in my life. But sometimes you just want to throttle someone, which I think is frowned upon by the authorities, and other times, you'll be entranced by it all...as I often am. PS: Come to think of it, there's some people in the US I'd like to throttle too! Posted by David at June 13, 2005 1:59 PM Was it the bread or the German boy you were interested in dahling? ;-) kissy kiss Posted by Pim at June 13, 2005 8:01 PM ooops, I sent you a comment about your wonderful bread post, and I put it on the rue tatin post. rats. can you fix that? if not....um...la de da? Posted by Alisa at June 26, 2005 4:51 PM I am catching up on the important things in life. i.e. reading blogs. If you haven't found "the German fellow who made the amazingly-good, dense and grainy bread that he brought to the BBQ at Meg's last night.." Let me know. I have names, numbers, address and a good personal relationship with said man. Posted by Alisa at June 27, 2005 2:34 AM |
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