LKR <cowandpig@qwest.net> wrote:
>Dear Diane,
>Thank you for the wonderful and thorough report. You really
>sacrificed, I see. [g]
Yes, it was noble of me, wasn't it? I know no greater pleasure than
to get up early and walk to a just-opening boulanger.
>>3. Le Boulanger du Monge
>>As excellent as ever. Magnificent bagueete - best I had.
>
>Where is this bakery located?
It's in Rue Monge, in the 5th. The bakery is in the jardins des
Plantes quartier, down near Censier-Daubentin metro. We usually stay
on the Ile st Louis, and it's about a 15 minute walk from there.
>>4. Poujauran in the 7th, Rue Cler area.
>>Wonderful novelty breads, like a baguette de sept cereales and good
>>pain au figues (how do the French make this so light? Basic breads
>>were good but not sensass.
>
>Do you have any sense of what the seven cereals were? Were they a
>large part of the dough and was it white dough? This sounds like fun
>to try to replicate.
Creamy dough, and among the cereals were definitely some seeds and
whole grains. I thought there were sunflower seeds, oat and wheat
grains, and corn in the flour mix that coloured it. Next time I'll ask!
>>6. Le Grenier a pain, rue d'Italie 13th.
>>The review in Palmare said croassants were grreat, but it was the
>>bread that was outstanding; magnificent baguette a l'ancienne
>
>What is this type of baguette like?
Ah, you must read Steven Kaplan for the detail, but it has a creamy
crumb (not parched white), a crust not unlike but thinner and
cracklier than a boule, soft rich forest-brown with a dusting of
flour, an irregular banette shape with a single slash. I ADORE it
with raw butter.
>>Also worthy of note was the dark, voluptuous, almost unctuous olive
>>bread at Flora in Av George V, a restaurant well worth it
>>anyway. Everywhere else also had nice bread. Memorable walnut
>>bread with cheese at Hiramatsu.
>
>What was the dough of the olive bread like? What sort of olives did
>it have? This also sounds like a good project.
I'm KEEN. She does have a cookbook, but the bread wasn't in
it. Offhand, I'd say from the thick unctuous deep almost black crumb
that pureed olives and a LOT of olive oil were involved. Like black
velvet. Not too dense, either.
>Did you go to Poilane? My personal favorite.
It's funny, but I never do in Paris - well, not never, but usually
not when I'm only there for a few days - because there's one in
London, so it's less of a novelty. I do love his bread, of course I
do, but I've had it quite often and I'm in search of the new, always.
Week after next, I'll be ready to tell all about bread in Venice. I
note to my surprise that Faith Willinger says it's mainly not good
because you can't make good bread in a damp climate. Huh, thought I,
tell that to San Francisco, but is she right?