Behind the French Menu: French Bread - Crust & Culture: Exploring the Many Types of French Bread

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

A boulangerie (baker’s shop) in France.
Photograph courtesy of Kimon Berlin
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimon/16095492470/

Bread in French is Spelled Pain and Pronounced Pan.

Bread may be the most basic of all foods, but, in France, choosing bread is also an institution. The French care more about bread and the types of bread available than any other nation. When you visit France, look for an opportunity at breakfast to try breads other than the obligatory baguette

Baguettes straight out of the oven.
Photograph courtesy of Bob Hall
https://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofhall/8422489736/

Beginning on page four is a glossary for buying French bread with all the French you need to know.

First-time visitors to France are often surprised by the number of independent boulangeries, bakeries, which still operate in the cities and towns, and even in some villages. Nevertheless, the number of independent bakers was 25% of the number 10–15 years ago.

Stohrer, the oldest patisserie and boulangerie in Paris
(Founded in 1730).
51 Rue Montorgueil, Paris 75002.

Despite the paragraph above, more and more French families are choosing to buy their bread in the evening for their next day's breakfast. That change is due to the exodus of traditional boulangeries (bakeries). Once, boulangeries were on nearly every street corner; no more. Now, either buy your bread, with preservatives, the day before or prepare to begin your day with a one-and-a-half-kilometer (0.90 miles) walk to the nearest boulangerie. (Remember that that's the same distance back).

Buying French bread.

Gone are the days when the average French person could enjoy bread without any additives. Baguettes without additives must be eaten, at the most, within five or six hours. Even an ordinary supermarket baguette made with preservatives will not be fresh from one morning to the next; the family will either buy a supermarket baguette the night before or buy a pain boule (pronounced pan bool), a traditional round loaf of bread. A pain boule may be used for two to three days and then continue as toast.

Bakeries are required to post the weight and price of each type of bread category they sell, and the weight must be accurate within a narrow range. As long as each bakery displays the weight of its products, apart from La Baguette de Tradition, the traditional baguette, they may use their own standards and names.

The A – Z for ordering coffee in France click here.

Buying cheese in France and taking it home click here.

All the French you need for breakfast in France click here.

The different flours used in French cuisine click here.

The croissant’s history and the different types click here.

This French pronunciation app is better than my written suggestions: http://forvo.com/languages/fr/

A glossary of French bread.

Pain – Bread; is the most basic of all foods. Of course, if you are like Marie Antoinette, you can get along with cake alone. (Pain is pronounced pan, with the n being light, almost indiscernible). I cannot list all the different types of bread available in France as that would require a separate book, possibly three or four. However, I have noted the most popular types of bread seen in the boulangeries, bakeries; supermarkets, supermarchés; hotel breakfast menus, and restaurants. I have included a few others where I liked their names or their history:

Croissant - A croissant is not bread, it is a pastry and will be seen in most French homes only on the weekend. A croissant needs to be eaten fresh as the best croissants have no preservatives; they will be bought fresh on weekend mornings. However, all cafes and hotels offer croissants for breakfast, and you will see weekday lunch sandwiches made with large croissants. For the croissant’s history and the different types click here

A croissant at lunchtime.

Photograph courtesy of Marco Verch

www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/28554316752/

Pain à l'ail – Garlic bread. In France, this may be any bread flavored with garlic and then toasted.

Pain au Blé Noir or Pain au Sarrasin – Buckwheat flour bread.

Pain au Chocolat – A chocolate croissant . Why a chocolate-filled croissant is not called a chocolate croissant is lost in the history of French pâtisseries.

Pain au Froment - Bread made from 100% wheat flour. Pain au froment with a percentage mark after the name indicates mixed flours. An example may be froment 75%; the other flour used for the remaining 25% will usually be displayed.

Pain au froment.
Bread made with 100% wheat flour.
Photograph courtesy of Emily Carlin
https://www.flickr.com/photos/emiline220/4273700153/

Pain au Levain - Sourdough bread. Sourdough bread may be made from wheat or rye flour, and ingredients such as honey may be added. Before any additions, sourdough bread is flour, water, salt, and a culture of yeast and lactic acid bacteria. The taste of sourdough bread is slightly acidic, and there are different aromas that the acid and yeast create.

Pain au Son - Bran Bread. Bran bread has the bran added to refined wheat flour (from which it was initially removed). Bran comes from the hard outer layers of the grain. There is 20% to 30% bran in pain au son. Pain au son is a bread recommended to improve your digestion.

Pain aux Noix - Walnut bread; made with whole wheat flour and walnuts. Walnuts are France's most highly rated nut. The French name for a walnut is "noix," and that word just translates as "nut." All other nuts have unique French names added to the word noix, while the walnut is "the nut."

Pain au Noix

Walnut Bread.
Photograph courtesy of Bart Everson.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/editor/8562384993/

Pain aux Raisins - The name for a Viennoiserie made with raisins. Viennoiseries are the name the French have given to their local equivalent of Danish pastries. The pastry used is mostly a puff pastry, somewhat similar to that used for croissants. The name links back to France's love for Viennese pastries.

Pain Azymes, Pain sans Levain or Pain Juif – See Pain sans Levain.

Pain Baguette - The most well-known of French breads. A standard baguette is thin and almost 70 cm (28") long and weighs 250 grams (9 ounces). NB: French breads do not have legal weights or sizes that cover every producer; every boulangerie and supermarket must clearly mark the weight of each type of bread they sell.

In many French homes, breakfast is not breakfast without a baguette. However, despite their popularity, baguettes are considered a Parisian or big city bread, and outside the cities, other breads may be preferred. An important reason for choosing another bread is the short shelf life of a baguette. NB: The word baguette also means a wand and a baton. Thinner and lighter baguettes are called ficelles, and larger ones are called flûtes. (See Pain Ficelle and Pain Flûte below).

The two schools of thought when it comes to buying a baguette:

Crisp baguettes: To order a baguette with a crisp and crunchy crust, use the term for a well-done steak, bien cuite (pronounced bien kweet). Just say un baguette bien kwee sil voo play. There is a very slight 'T' in the pronunciation, but I rarely hear it.

Soft crust baguettes: Just say pas trop cuite, not well done (pronounced pah trop kweet). Just say un baguette pa trop kweet sil voo play, and you will be offered a baguette with a soft crust. (The sil voo play is written as " s'il vous plaît and means please).

The history of the baguette and the flûte, written by a knowledgeable French correspondent:

The distinction between a flûte and a baguette is more cultural than anything else. In the 19th century, the term flûte covered all long and thin loaves of bread. The moniker baguette only appeared in the early 20th century (about a hundred years ago). In the beginning, it was basically the designation used in Paris and a few other cities. Only in the 1970s was the word baguette commonly used nationwide. Currently, some countryside bakeries will still market flûtes, especially when they're made with a specialty flour, but today, very few bakeries sell both flûtes and baguettes, since the latter has mostly taken over.

The early morning baguette

Photograph courtesy of Joe Shlabotnik
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/479221077/

Pain Baguette à l'Ail - Garlic bread made with a toasted baguette.

Pain Baguette au Levain or a Baguette Paresseuse - Sourdough Baguettes. There is some history to the second name, paresseuse, in most French-English dictionaries used to be translated as a 'lazy girl.' (Google Translate has since become politically correct and changed the translation of une paresseuse to 'a lazy person'). While no one I asked knew the origin of the name, no one seemed to object to its continued usage.

Pain Baguette de Tradition (La) –The traditional baguette, the original baguette that dates back to the 1920s, when it was made without any preservatives. The visual differences between traditional baguettes and today's mass-produced baguettes are not easily discerned, though many hand-made traditional baguettes do have a giveaway when they have pointed ends. Search out a boulangerie (bakery) that makes a "baguette de tradition" and experience the different taste and texture. Baguettes a have become such a prominent part of the French psyche that I have prepared a separate post for those who look for the traditional baguette. The traditional baguette contains no chemical preservatives at all; it will be fresh for just two or three hours, and after five hours, forget about it. For the post on La Baguette de Tradition, click here.

Pain Bâtard – A bastard; the name used in boulangeries that make their own bread for any loaf that comes out of the oven in an odd shape.

Pain Beignets – French for a donut and many forms of deep-fried dough. At breakfast, a French beignet, pronounced bay-nyay, will be sprinkled with Sucre Pâtissier, powdered sugar. A pain beignet will be on many French café menus, with some filled with apples or other fruits.

Donuts with a hole in the center are called Beignets Américains, American Donuts, and they are available nearly everywhere.

Pain beignets and cafe au lait for breakfast.
Photograph courtesy of thotfulspot
www.flickr.com/photos/thotfulspot/3812527313/

Pain Beurrée or Tartine Beurrée – A sliced baguette or other French bread; served in French homes with butter alongside the morning's café au lait, a milky coffee. In a French café, this tartine beurrée would be noted on the breakfast menu and offered with marmalade or jam on the side. N.B. The word tartine also indicates a sandwich, usually an open sandwich.

Pain Bis - Brown bread made with rye flour.

Pains Biologiques, Pain Bio – Organic breads. Organic bread, marked with the government-regulated and respected A.B. marking. Organic bread begins with organic agriculture and the organic flour produced. Any organic flour may be used, but all additives must be 95% organic. Within the limitations of these less than 100% organic additives, the French and E.U. regulations are much stricter than those in the USA or Canada.

Pain Blanc – Standard white bread. The shapes are different from those at home.

Pain Boule or Boule de Pain – A round loaf made from a ball of dough. Before the baguette became famous in the 1920s, the boule was considered to be the "French bread." Then and now, many families still place a large boule on the French breakfast table rather than a baguette. Unlike thinner breads, a pain boule will stay fresh for two or three days. The term boule translates a “ball”, and gave its name to the word Boulanger, the baker of round-shaped bread.

Pain de Boule.

Photograph courtesy of Traaf

https://www.flickr.com/photos/traaf/8062413002/in/dateposted/

Pain Boulot – Another name for pain boule; a round loaf.

Pain Brié - A traditional wheat-based bread from Normandy. The bread is made with butter, which gives it a decidedly different taste. It has no connection to Brié, the cheese. The dough is shaped into long, narrow loaves with tapered ends and then scored with diagonal slashes to create a distinctive striped pattern on the crust. The bread is baked at a high temperature, which creates a crispy, golden crust.

Pain Brié.

Photograph courtesy of Frédéric Bisson.

https::/www.flickr.com/photos/zigazou76/4626256502/

Pain Brioché – Brioche is bread made with added eggs, butter, and a little sugar; the shape will vary with local traditions, as does the exact recipe. A brioché will often be the bread of choice when a recipe calls for bread stuffed with pâtés or meats. Pâtés or other products cooked inside bread will be on the menu with the words en croute as part of the name; for example, Pâté en Croûte. Toasted brioché is the bread most often served alongside foie gras, fattened goose, or duck liver.

Recipes for brioché vary considerably, and a brioché branded with the name of a particular area will be a local point of pride. Brioché is also the bread considered closest in taste and appearance to one of the loaves of bread baked for the Jewish Sabbath and called a "challah" or "egg challah."

A Rectangular Brioché

Photograph courtesy of We Like Sharing

https://www.flickr.com/photos/welikesharing/54456199169/

A few types of brioché:

Pain Brioché de Vendée, Label Rouge - A traditional braided brioché from the department of Vendée in the region of the Pays-de-Loire. The inclusion of crème fraîche and orange zest gives this brioché its distinctive taste. This brioché began as an unusually large brioché, often over five kilos. Then it was made at home or in a bakery and served at Easter. Even larger briochés would be and often still are served at family celebrations. Today, the authentic Briochés de Vendée, those awarded the Label Rouge, the red label, are baked by professionals. The importance of the quality of this brioché is seen in the named and inspected bakeries that bake this unique Pain Brioché de Vendée. This brioché is the only French bread I know of to have been awarded the French Label Rouge, the Red Label, for consistent and unmatched quality. (Gâche was the original name of the Pain Brioché de Vendée).

Brioché Craquelin – These briochés, of which there are many types, developed from a Dutch or Belgian brioché-type bread called suikerbrood that has sucre perlé, pearl sugar lumps inside the dough and on top. The Brioché Craquelin, with its hard sugared top, and some with sugar lumps inside, came later; these have a hard top covered with sugar that gives it its French name, as it "cracks" as you cut or bite into it. (In French patisserie, craquelin evolved into a crunchy topping used on éclairs, profiteroles, etc, made with choux pastry (pâte à choux). Despite the many variations, all craquelins share the crunchy crackle of sugar.

Brioché de Nanterre - A rectangular brioché from Nanterre. Nanterre is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department, in the western suburbs of Paris.

Brioché Parisienne –The Parisian brioché. This brioché is made by forming the base in a fluted mold with a smaller half-round ball of dough set on top.

Brioché Parisienne

Brioché Tressée de Metz - This braided brioché is associated with the city of Metz, the prefecture of the department of Moselle. Metz was the capital of the region of Lorraine in North-Eastern France that, on 1-1-2016, became part of the new administrative region of the Grand Est. The capital of the Grand Est is Strasbourg.

Pogne - A brioché-type cake flavored with orange and lemon zest. See Pogne or Pogne de Romans below.

Pain Campagrain – Under this name are sold several different high fiber breads; campagrain bread uses two to five grains or more. The grains used include wheat, malted corn, rye, oats, barley, etc. Some bakers may include sunflower, sesame, and flax seeds; usually, all the grains used are marked along with the percentages. The shapes of Campagrain bread vary considerably, and you may find campagrain baguettes.

Pain Complet - This is a whole wheat bread that contains the germ and bran from the wheat that is removed when refined white flour is produced. The bran contributes to the bread's high fiber content, and whole wheat bread contains wheat germ. The wheat germ contains many nutrients, including vitamin E and folate, essential for a healthy heart. Vitamin E also promotes healthy skin and hair.

Pain Couronne – A ring-shaped loaf of bread with a hole in the middle; the French name translates as a crown. Couronnes have a loyal following because they keep well, as do other round loaves, but this one is easier to slice. There are two popular sizes, a petit (small) and a grande (large), and every bakery must display its loaves' weights. Like baguettes, some patrons prefer a regular crust, and some like theirs croustillant, with a crispy crust.

Pain Corounne

Pain Cramique – A bread similar to pain brioché but including raisins.

Pain Croûte à Potage or Potage son sous Béret - A bread crust used to cover soups, and a béret is a beret, the head covering, in English. This bread covering may appear on the menu under various names, not only béret.

A soup or stew covered with a bread covering may also surprise you when it appears on your table without any indication on the menu. NB: These coverings are not always designed to be eaten.

Pain d'Épice - Gingerbread seems to be more appreciated in France than in any other country and many of its producers are considered artists. It is made with wheat, rye, or mixed flours flavored with ginger and sweetened with honey. Depending on the recipe, other spices including fleur de muscade, nutmeg; clous de girofle, cloves, and cannelle, cinnamon, may be added. French gingerbread will often be studded with candied fruits, or served with warm chocolate and or ice cream. Gingerbread is also used to create imaginative window displays and unique birthday cakes. One of the most famous types of French gingerbread is the Pain d'Épices de Dijon, the gingerbread of Dijon. Dijon may be renowned for its mustard, but its gingerbread is second to none among the cognoscenti.

A gingerbread house.
Too good to eat?
Photograph courtesy of Kermitfrog ;-)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/muriel67/3089351975/

Pain de Campagne or Pain Miche - Country bread. A bread with many recipes and shapes; the flour used may be standard wheat flour, whole wheat flour, or mixed flours with real Pain de Campagne made with natural leavening, not commercial yeast. The taste is mild and somewhat similar to American sourdough bread, making for an enjoyably chewy bread and crust.

Pain de Campagne
Photograph and recipe courtesy of maPatisserie.fr

Pain de Gênes – An almond paste cake.

Pain de Mais - Cornbread.

Pain de Mie or Pain Carré - Pain de Mie directly translates to soft bread, and Pain Carré means square bread. The French will use this square, soft bread for sandwiches, as it is often sold sliced; it will also be used for toast. For those used to sliced British sandwich bread, this is the nearest you'll find to it in France. Pain de Mie is also sold without a crust.

Pain de Siegel or Pain Noir - Rye bread. Rye bread is made with different percentages from the flours made with rye grain. It is higher in fiber than white bread, darker in color, and more robust in flavor.

Pain Déjeunette – A shorter-than-usual baguette; about one-half the length of a full-sized baguette: the name déjeunette implies that it is enough for a petit déjeuner (for breakfast). Sandwiches offered in a French sandwicherie will often be made with a déjeunette.

Déjeunette
Photograph courtesy of Vandemoortele

Pain Doré - Golden bread; one of the names for French toast. (See Pain Perdu).

Pain Ficelle – The word ficelle translates as a string, and a ficelle is shorter and thinner than a baguette. A ficelle weighs around 125 grams (4.50 grams); you will want to eat it the same day, as it will be stale by morning. Outside of bakeries and supermarket bakery departments, the word ficelle may be on your menu with meanings unrelated to bread:

Bœuf en Ficelle - Beef tied by a string and cooked while suspended above and in a boiling broth.

Ficelle Picardie - A crêpe stuffed with mushrooms, ham, and poultry. The finished crêpe is baked in a béchamel sauce with Gruyère cheese and served gratinée.

Pain Flûte – A longer and thicker version of a baguette. Flûtes were around for at least 50 years before baguettes were officially recognized in 1919. While there are no legal definitions for a flute, most will weigh about 400 grams (14 oz); compare that with a baguette that weighs about 250 grams (9 oz).

Pain Forgeron – A farmhouse-type bread with added sunflower, sesame seeds, and flax seeds.

Pain Fougasse and Fougassette – A traditional bread that originated in the City of Nice and the surrounding villages in Provence. The fougasse was originally just a crusty bread made of baguette dough brushed with olive oil and flavored with orange zest. That is still the tradition, but many fougasse versions have changed beyond recognition. Without a change of name, the fougasse and fougassette now come with a wide variety of shapes, recipes, and flavors spread all over Provence and beyond. The provenance of this bread is claimed by the Italians, who point to their focaccia bread. Nevertheless, in Provence, no recipe is set in stone, and most of today's fougasse breads have limited connections to any Italian ancestors.

Pain Fougasse

Photograph courtesy of Ben Demey

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fritobandito/376110873/

Pain Grillé or Toast – Toasted bread; toast. The French word toster came to England from France with the Norman invasion in 1066, where it meant grilled or to grill. The French took home the Anglicized word “toast” and now use it with its modern English meaning. Today, the word toast is just as popular as the correct French name for toasted bread, pain grille. The French connection created many changes in the English kitchen.

Gros Pain - A large bread sold in various shapes and sizes and traditionally sold by weight.

Pain Maison – Homemade bread.

Pain Miche - (See Pain de Campagne).

Pain Nordique – See Pain Polaire.

Pain Parisien – Another name for a standard baguette; however, the name may also be used for bread shaped like a baguette but with different lengths and weights. (See Pain Baguette).

Pain Perdu - French toast. The translation of pain perdu is “lost bread”, indicating bread considered too stale to use. Despite the name, one of the few things you can do with stale bread is to make French toast. The original French version of French toast is bread soaked in milk with added sugar and vanilla or another flavoring. The bread will then be dipped in eggs and fried in butter until golden brown. Pain perdu is popular at breakfast or as a light evening snack in private homes.

Pain Polaire, also called Pain Suédois and Pain Nordique - Polar bread, Swedish bread, or Nordic bread; this is the traditional a rye-flour-based flatbread with dimples.

Pain Rassis – Stale bread; this could become pain perdu.

Pain sans Levain, Pain Azymes, or Pain Juif – Unleavened bread and the French name for the traditional Jewish matzo eaten during the Jewish Feast of Passover.

Pains Spéciaux – Specialty breads; this may be on a sign in a specialty baker's shop. The offering can include bread made with seeds from Épeautre or Petit Épeautre, Spelt or Dinkel Wheat, or Small Spelt or Einkorn, whose seeds come from

the ancestors of modern wheat. Specialty breads may also be made with unique mixtures of grains and seeds, added fats, sweeteners, and dairy products; most will be marked with short explanations.

Pain Tresse – Braided bread; usually a brioché.

Petit Pains - Bread rolls; there are different names for each shape and recipe used for the traditional bread rolls offered in a restaurant or sold in a supermarket. However, the only name you will need for a bread roll is petite pain. Unless you are dining in a place with many tourists, your bread rolls will be served without butter on the side. That is how most Frenchmen and women eat bread in a restaurant before lunch or dinner. Still, you are paying the piper, so just say "du beurre s'il vous plaît" (pronounced doo bur si voo play), and butter will appear. N.B.: That's usually lightly salted butter.

Pogne or Pogne de Romans - A brioche-type cake flavored with orange and lemon zest; traditional in the area of the Rhône-Alpes. The modern variations often include rum or another eau-de-vie accent. As you travel in the Rhône-Alpes and look at local menus, you will find towns and villages that have created variations with slight changes in the recipe and the name. You may be told that the name is linked to the Romans, but it's probably a medieval recipe, and the word Romans comes from the Occitan language.

Tartine - At breakfast, a tartine beurrée means bread and butter. However, tartine is also the French word for an open sandwich, and the word tartine will often be used interchangeably with the English word sandwich. While most tartines are open sandwiches, that is by no means a rule set in stone; the ingredients in or on a tartine vary with the area, the season, and the sandwich's creator.

Tartine with avocado, smoked salmon,

and fresh goat’s cheese.
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Fourchette & Bikini

Tartine Beurrée or Pain Beurrée - Bread and butter.

Tartine Italienne – The French take on the Italian bruschetta. Slices of toasted bread, sometimes toasted garlic bread; served with hot or cold cooked vegetables, chicken livers, or pate.

Who bakes the best bread?

Excellence in baking bread is an essential requirement for any would-be French chef. No chef will receive a full graduation diploma from any serious French cooking school if their bread-making does not make the grade. In the better French restaurants, you will be offered three or more different, home-made petite pains, bread rolls. French diners will judge a restaurant's offering of bread rolls with the same discerning eye that they use to assess its other offerings. In many towns, restaurant chefs take part, with independent boulangeries (bakeries) in good-natured, local, bread-making competitions. Some excellent restaurants in France bring in bread and bread rolls from famous bakers and promote their links to one of France's Meilleurs Boulangers, master bakers. Good bread is very important in France!

The breads in this post.

I could not include all the breads available in France in this post; that would require a book, possibly two books. Included are the popular breads seen in most bakeries, supermarkets, on hotel breakfast menus, and in restaurants. Excluded, unfortunately, are many fun and compelling types of bread that are typical of specific regions. When you encounter one of these different breads on your travels, taste and enjoy; fifty kilometers (30 miles) away, there may be different traditions and recipes.

Many cities have competitions built around baguettes and other breads made in the traditional manner without preservatives. For more on those competitions and how to find the winning bakeries, see the post: Searching for the perfect baguette?

Finally, a picnic in France.

A picnic in France is an opportunity to rendezvous with different breads of your own choosing and include the option of a lunchtime picnic in a city park. Buy two or three different breads and be careful about buying too much cheese or pâté; I have made that mistake more than once.

If your picnic includes 2 or 3 kinds of cheese and a pâté, then 25 grams (3.5 oz) per person of each cheese and pâté is more than enough. If locals were organizing the same picnic they would recommend 20 grams (2.50 oz) of cheese and pâté per person. To that, add half a bottle of the wine per person that nearly everyone believes they will consume. If you add any of those incredible croissants and the amazing chocolate eclairs that you saw in the shop, cut the other quantities in half. But, don’t forget the different breads.

Bon appetite!

Bread in the language of France's neighbors:

(Catalan - pa), (Dutch - brood), (German - brot), (Italian - pane), (Spanish – pan).

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