Thank you so much for clearing up the un/une confusion of baguettes - it’s been stressing me out for ages and now I can remember your helpful memory hook of all French words ending in —ette as belonging to the feminine group. Merci!
I do think French bread has changed in the past 40 (gulp!) years. When I lived in France for a year during my degree the baguettes were golden and crisp, with a crust that cracked into hard flakes. Now they seem duller and more like sourdough. Probably more artisanale, but even the supermarket plastic wrapped ones are like sourdough. I preferred the older version!
By late afternoon authentic artisan baguette (as opposed to the kind bought in a sealed plastic container in a supermarket with a use-by date) can double as a baseball bat, lethal weapon, rustic rolling pin, tooth breaker, meat tenderiser or carpenter’s hammer. My mother, who lived with us in France for ten years, said baguettes were “the unhealthiest and most over-rated French food,” apart from patisserie which “all tasted the same” because of the “artificial” crème patissiere. Likewise, she described the croissant as “a heart attack on a plate” and any bread without butter a “dry argument.”
Very similar bread 🥖 etiquette here in the south of Spain! Very interestingly I often find cultural comparisons. The only difference is the bread face down and the mopping being bad etiquette, or at least I don’t believe it is 🙈 Maybe I made a faux pas today in the fancy restaurant 🤣
I've never forgotten that baguette is feminine, since being corrected by the assistant in a boulangerie in Paris in front of the whole queue " c'est UNE baguette" .
“Baguettiquette!” What a perfect term. I live in a west African country formerly under French colonial rule, and the baguette is one of France’s enduring legacies. Many rules are similar, but here, baguettes are served with butter when they are part of breakfast. No butter is offered with dinner bread; instead, an assortment of “sauces,” usually small jars of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard (another French legacy), and piment (spicy pepper sauce). The question of gaspillage is solved by the sheep, goats, and even cattle, who free-range the sandy streets of our little town, quite happy to munch stale baguette!
I was so terrified of the bread queue when I first moved to Rome and spoke zero Italian. There were so many kinds and I had no idea what or how much to ask for. I feel a little bit like I am back to square 1 because again I don't know the names for the completely different kinds of bread in Venice. At least now I can ask.
Thank you so much for clearing up the un/une confusion of baguettes - it’s been stressing me out for ages and now I can remember your helpful memory hook of all French words ending in —ette as belonging to the feminine group. Merci!
I do think French bread has changed in the past 40 (gulp!) years. When I lived in France for a year during my degree the baguettes were golden and crisp, with a crust that cracked into hard flakes. Now they seem duller and more like sourdough. Probably more artisanale, but even the supermarket plastic wrapped ones are like sourdough. I preferred the older version!
By late afternoon authentic artisan baguette (as opposed to the kind bought in a sealed plastic container in a supermarket with a use-by date) can double as a baseball bat, lethal weapon, rustic rolling pin, tooth breaker, meat tenderiser or carpenter’s hammer. My mother, who lived with us in France for ten years, said baguettes were “the unhealthiest and most over-rated French food,” apart from patisserie which “all tasted the same” because of the “artificial” crème patissiere. Likewise, she described the croissant as “a heart attack on a plate” and any bread without butter a “dry argument.”
This sounds utterly divine! I will definitely make my chicken this way next weekend.....
My french grandparents and their bonne crossed the bread before cutting it, to bless it. It became a habit for me!
Very similar bread 🥖 etiquette here in the south of Spain! Very interestingly I often find cultural comparisons. The only difference is the bread face down and the mopping being bad etiquette, or at least I don’t believe it is 🙈 Maybe I made a faux pas today in the fancy restaurant 🤣
I've never forgotten that baguette is feminine, since being corrected by the assistant in a boulangerie in Paris in front of the whole queue " c'est UNE baguette" .
“Baguettiquette!” What a perfect term. I live in a west African country formerly under French colonial rule, and the baguette is one of France’s enduring legacies. Many rules are similar, but here, baguettes are served with butter when they are part of breakfast. No butter is offered with dinner bread; instead, an assortment of “sauces,” usually small jars of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard (another French legacy), and piment (spicy pepper sauce). The question of gaspillage is solved by the sheep, goats, and even cattle, who free-range the sandy streets of our little town, quite happy to munch stale baguette!
I was so terrified of the bread queue when I first moved to Rome and spoke zero Italian. There were so many kinds and I had no idea what or how much to ask for. I feel a little bit like I am back to square 1 because again I don't know the names for the completely different kinds of bread in Venice. At least now I can ask.