Again, I'm not going to ACTUALLY do 5 posts. I really wasn't much in the mood to do another travel post (though I still need to hit: Barcelona, Munich/Passau, Lyon, Niort/La Rochelle, Nice, and Amsterdam, and I'll have the Balkans to hit once I get back from break. Fun times.), and I'd been batting this one around in my head for a while. Iiiit honestly won't turn out too well, most likely. It's about bread.
First off, I love baguettes. The best bread that I've had in the States was always the "Bake your own" bread that you could get in grocery stores for a couple of bucks- they always had that nice crustiness on the outside and a really good fluffiness inside. Yeah, there's the "French bread" stuff you can get, but that's usually a lot drier inside and just generally less fluffy. So when I got to France (namely Combs), I figured I might try to find myself a bakery to frequent and be ever so French.
This was of course before I realized that there was no way in Hell that I would ever seem "ever so French" to an actual French person. I have a rather noticeable American accent- okay, I'll amend that; I've got a rather noticeable accent. I THINK it's a pretty noticeable anglophone accent, because I do tend to get American or English in most cases.
Also, for those of you hoping for pictures, I don't think they're coming. I don't tend to take pictures of my bread. It's a shock, I know, considering I take pictures of just about ANYTHING else.
Aaanyway. I started by using some bread from the local supermarkets, just as a stopgap until I found a bakery I really liked. And then I found how much the actual bakeries charge. It's like 80 centimes at the cheapest place you can find, and it's more often 85 at the cheaper ones. Meanwhile, the bread at the supermarkets (and I'm talking stuff that, as long as you don't leave it out, is as good as the bake your own stuff from the States), is 29 centimes at the cheap supermarket that I go to for food. Their top of the line loaf? 59 centimes. They're pretty good, and while I felt bad about not having "my bakery," I was okay with avoiding the spending.
To be fair, I DID try a bakery near the nicer supermarket. Their baguettes were 85 centimes, and they weren't bad. Problem was that I don't usually eat a whole baguette unless it's a freaking meal. So, of course, I'd freeze the baguette and break off a piece to heat up in the oven while I was making dinner. And that's when I found the big deal-breaker on a bunch of "real" baguettes. They taste really metallic. Not like you're eating a penny, but like you forgot to take off some foil or something. There's just a vaguely metallic taste, and it's not pleasant.
So I kept on keeping on with the LIDL (cheap supermarket) baguettes, which for a cheap supermarket are freaking AWESOME. This I found out a few weeks ago when I went to the Cora (think Wal-Mart?) to get some baking stuff (strawberries are hard to find in these parts until recently, and yes it should have been were, but I needed some breaking of the fourth wall. The typo afforded me the opportunity to go all Kool Aid man on itOHYEAAAAH), and I needed bread. I opted to pick up a couple of baguettes there, where it was a bit more expensive, so of course it would be better, right? That's the way the world works, yeah?
Ohh young Rob from a few weeks ago. How your naïveté amuses me.
It was the worst bread I've had in France. It was super dry, ridiculously crackly on the crust, and just generally terrible. I was torn between hating it and not wanting to eat it, and hating it and wanting it the hell out of my food inventory. I also refuse to trash food if at all possible.
Anyhoo, this continued for a while until I guess last week? Maybe I was on my way home from the train station from Amsterdam. I dunno. Anyway, I went to a bakery near the LIDL, which is run by some Muslim folks, so they're open on Sundays and closed on Thursdays. YAY MORE DRAGONFORCE WACKINESS IS ABOUT TO ENSUE GUYS.
Okay, so I bought one of their baguettes, which are 85 centimes, and they're freaking amazing. They've got a nice butteriness, though not like you're eating a stick of butter. They've got fluffiness out the wazoo. Seriously, they'd give Rolf a run for his piano-playing money, and anyone who has watched ANY Muppet movie with me over the last couple of years has probably had to endure me talkinga bout how I just want to hug Rolf because good Lord is he fluffy. They've got the perfect sort of crust, and they have ZERO metallicity. Yes, metallicity isn't a word, but it is now, and it applies to bread so BOOM. Like I said, wackiness.
Even better, I went in on Sunday to grab some more bread, and unfortunately they didn't have any. By which I mean they didn't have any READY, but there would be some in a few minutes. I waited around and got to get 2 fresh baguettes. Fresh out of the freaking oven. Ohmfugacitilomminatommina. Good Lord were they good. Really my only complaint is that they tend to flatten really easily, but that just makes for easier tartines (AKA my breakfast- I switched from jam to Nutella this week because I was out of jam and wanted to eat some Nutella before I left). Seriously, it's probably the best thing about Combs, aside from the mini golf course.
Not that I've been to the Mini Golf, of course. HA PUN NOT INTENDED BUT STILL HA. I just walk past that sign and wonder how they manage to make that cost-effective in freaking Combs. Of course, I did see Laser Tag out in Orly today, which was a weird sight.
Anyhoo, I figure there are 4 things I need to indulge in out the wazoo before I head out of France (May 8, by the way, so 31 days- yipes). Okay, 5- travel is a fifth, but I don't think I'll get to with all I want to do in Paris before leaving.
1. Bread- lots of these baguettes, because damn.
2. Cheese- I've tried: Cantal, Morbier, Comté (barely), Chèvre, Tomme, Roquefort, and Emmenthal. This... is not sufficient, given that I live within a day's walk of Brie. Seriously- there are signs for it in Combs.
3. Dried sausage- I had some FANFREAKINGTASTIC saucisson at the Salon d'Agriculture, and I need to have as much as I can before heading back Stateside and not being able to get it anymore. Also, I read this tonight, and it's made me crave it something fierce.
4. Wine- I've had a few that I really like, and of course lots at the Salon de Vin. Cheap wine is fine with me, and I've found a few reds that are really intriuging, including the Tourraine that I'm working through at the moment.
Hey, I worked 5 into the post. Go me.
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