No Baguettes Here: Eating Whole Grain Bread in Tours, France
When we think of French bread, most of us think of baguettes and their spin offs. But white-flour baguettes are a fairly modern invention. They were not the sort of bread the French workingman would have eaten when bread was all he got to eat. Remember the miners in Germinal? They would have eaten dense whole grain bread. No baguettes under the arm for them!
There are still a few bakeries in France that specialize in such bread. One can be found in the Old City of Tours, Au Vieux Four. In fact, it was just down the street from the house where I stayed for a month during the summer of 1997. Unfortunately I did not discover it until the last week of my stay. Once I did, I ended up going back every day to try all the different breads. One of my favorites was a bread labeled "fouace de Rabelais". It was made by following a list of ingredients Rabelais included in one of his "Gargantua et Pantagruel" stories. You could taste the honey. Some of the breads are made every day; some only on certain days of the week. I especially liked the pain au citron, which had big slices of fresh lemon peel throughout.
After a few days, they began to recognize me as one of the "locals" (at least temporarily) and I was informed that they offer breakfasts where one can taste a variety of the breads and get a tour of the bakery.. The breakfasts were offered only for groups, but I was able to join a group of students studying French from L'Institut de Touraine. With our breakfast we got a tour of the bakery and its wood burning furnace. The chef told us about the French apprenticeship system, which involves doing a "Tour de France" for several years before becoming a master baker to learn techniques from other masters. The baker was a "vrai charactere français" and did not think much of most modern French bread; much of it, he told us, is not in fact produced in the bakery, but produced at centralized bakeries and then distributed to shops and supermarkets.
In addition to superb and unusual bread, the bakery produces the only brownies I ever found in France. They weren't bad, but one goes to Au Vieux Four for the bread. Their line of pastries is very limited.
I was told that people passing through Tours often make a detour just to stop at Au Vieux Four and stock up. I could understand why. They must eat the bread very quickly, as French freezers are generally quite small. If you are in the area, go in and pick up a pain or two.
There are still a few bakeries in France that specialize in such bread. One can be found in the Old City of Tours, Au Vieux Four. In fact, it was just down the street from the house where I stayed for a month during the summer of 1997. Unfortunately I did not discover it until the last week of my stay. Once I did, I ended up going back every day to try all the different breads. One of my favorites was a bread labeled "fouace de Rabelais". It was made by following a list of ingredients Rabelais included in one of his "Gargantua et Pantagruel" stories. You could taste the honey. Some of the breads are made every day; some only on certain days of the week. I especially liked the pain au citron, which had big slices of fresh lemon peel throughout.
After a few days, they began to recognize me as one of the "locals" (at least temporarily) and I was informed that they offer breakfasts where one can taste a variety of the breads and get a tour of the bakery.. The breakfasts were offered only for groups, but I was able to join a group of students studying French from L'Institut de Touraine. With our breakfast we got a tour of the bakery and its wood burning furnace. The chef told us about the French apprenticeship system, which involves doing a "Tour de France" for several years before becoming a master baker to learn techniques from other masters. The baker was a "vrai charactere français" and did not think much of most modern French bread; much of it, he told us, is not in fact produced in the bakery, but produced at centralized bakeries and then distributed to shops and supermarkets.
In addition to superb and unusual bread, the bakery produces the only brownies I ever found in France. They weren't bad, but one goes to Au Vieux Four for the bread. Their line of pastries is very limited.
I was told that people passing through Tours often make a detour just to stop at Au Vieux Four and stock up. I could understand why. They must eat the bread very quickly, as French freezers are generally quite small. If you are in the area, go in and pick up a pain or two.