Tuesday, April 09, 2002


you may remember that i wrote a while ago with joy about dr. r. clavel's book on bread finally being available in english. . .

dr. clavel can almost single-handedly be credited with giving birth to the artisan bread movement in this country, and reviving the industry in france, as well as a growing awareness in the general french public that traditional methods of bread production are better. for many years, the corner bakeries france had begun to switch to the use of pre-made frozen dough, instead of actually making the bread from scratch. this allowed them to have hot, supposedly "fresh made bread" available throughout the day for their customers.

but now thanks to the efforts of dr. clavel and many others, the french are beginning to fight back, before they lose their centuries-old bread traditions. i've talked a lot about the marvelous country loaf or miche baked by lionel poilaine. now let's hear it for the baguette baked by raoul maeder of the boulangerie alsacienne.

and i salute the 6-year-old french movement de la graine au pain (from grain to bread) for offering certification and support to local bakers who insist on preserving the french culinary heritage.

posted by fortune | 7:50 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments