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I've had baguettes in France, and I've had baguettes elsewhere and there is really no comparison. Baguettes in France are incredibly soft with thin crunchy shel
by Someone1234 5y ago
I've had baguettes in France, and I've had baguettes elsewhere and there is really no comparison. Baguettes in France are incredibly soft with thin crunchy shell, whereas supermarket baguettes in the US (and elsewhere) taste like a three-day-old French baguette even the day they're made. You need a very sharp knife to cut them up, they're like rocks. It is very disappointing.
In general, it is very hard to find good bakery goods in the US outside of local artisan shops. A lot of people have just come to expect that to be the case (like "of course supermarkets have low quality baked goods!") but that just isn't the case in much of continental Europe, boring supermarkets have amazing bakery stuff.
The closest thing I've found to a "basically acceptable" mass-produced (i.e. available almost everywhere) bread in the US is Sara Lee Artesano (white) or Sara Lee Classic Wheat Bread. They aren't sweet or artificial tasting. Taste like a normal €1.20 bread. Unfortunately you are paying a premium compared to standard bread in Europe while tasting comparable.
PS - Still never found someone selling tijgerbrood/Dutch Crunch/Tiger bread in the US which is super strange, that stuff is delicious.
- mxwsn 5y agoDutch crunch is a very popular bread for sandwiches in the SF Bay area.
- coryrc 5y agoThere's this collective Stockholm Syndrome in the US. People don't realize how bad just normal things like bread or vegetables taste. Start calculating this stuff in PPP and I think we'll find the median American is not doing so well.
- suction 5y agoI live in Germany next to the border and often go to France on the weekend for food shopping etc. - it's really remarkable that you can buy a perfect Parisian baguette, then go 5 miles to the east, buy a baguette at a German bakery and it will be a completely different, worse thing. And it's vice-versa for whole grain or sourdough bread. Extremely tasty and well put together texture wise at the German bakery, but bland and almost tasteless if you go 5 miles to the west. Exceptions apply.
- shrikant 5y ago(Fucking this.) I love baguettes, but have NEVER had a good one outside of France, even in Europe. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places :shrug: I live in London and have not had one decent baguette here, even from the so-called "French" bakeries/boulangeries. So extremely bready and tough, yuck.
- Symbiote 5y agoIt shouldn't be too difficult -- there are French bakers importing French ingredients in London, which has a fairly large French community. Try searching in French for recommendations. https://www.uneparisiennealondres.com/post/best-of-baguettes-a-londres https://www.uneparisiennealondres.com/post/best-of-baguettes... https://london.frenchmorning.com/best-baguette-london-2019-finalistes/ https://london.frenchmorning.com/best-baguette-london-2019-f... etc.
- shrikant 5y agoThanks, appreciate the links, I'll check them out! FWIW I live in an area with a reasonably sized French community and the couple of people I've spoken to have steadfastly refused to give their stamp of approval to any commercial establishment :D