‘If they cant afford bread, let them eat cake.’

During French revolution, when Queen Marie- Antoinette was informed about the peasants not having bread to eat. She responded in absolute opulence, ‘Let them eat cake.’  In French, the sentence is Qu’ils mangent de la brioche! Or, literally means, Let them eat brioche!  Since cake is a familiar word to English speakers, it was conveniently mistaken for brioche, a form of French bread enriched with eggs and butter. Sounds 'miam, miam' (yummy in English).

Brioche bread





Sadly, the French Queen will always be remembered infamously for her famous words and history will continue to dispute the authenticity of her statement. However, we will move our focus to French breads.  Historically, breads have been particularly important to French people since the French Revolution days. An average Frenchman reportedly ate three pounds of bread a day. And if the supplies fell short or went bad, it resulted in riots. Even the English phrase of: ‘to be the bread-winner’ was made common to boast their victories over French territories. Impressive headline!

 

Get ready for some breakfast lessons on breads.

 

The most famous French bread is the 'Baguette', considered to be the obvious and perfect ally of a French cheese like a camembert. A baguette is a long and crispy loaf of bread can be up to one metre in length and weigh around 250 grams. Other popular names of the famous baguette in English are 'French bread' or 'French stick'. Baguettes are ideal for sandwiches. When eaten with cheese, they are at their delicious best. The other French baguettes variations consist of different ingredients like rye, sesame, hemp and poppy seeds. The contemporary variants include dry or candied fruit like raisins, nuts, oranges, pineapples or even figs. Looks like they can swallow anything.   

 Country Bread is named Pain de Campagne,   meaning "county bread".  It used be sold only in the suburbs, and was later introduced and sold in Paris by "bread sellers". The original French country bread was made for suburban people who could only go grocery shopping once in a while.

Today it is still made so that it is preserved for days thanks to its slowly fermented yeast or natural leavening agents. Country bread in general is made of wheat flour, rye flour, water, salt, and yeast.

 

 

Croissant

 

It is believed that the croissant has its origins in Vienna. It was first introduced to Paris by a bread artisan who was taken to Paris along with the Austrian princess, Marie-Antoinette (Oh God! her ghost follows us here too). Giving her a skip, this bread with its enriched ingredients and sweet pastries is called Viennoiseries, meaning "Viennese" in French. The croissant, in general, has layers of butter and thinly rolled out dough that is made of wheat flour, water, salt, and plenty of eggs and butter. Danish pastries are called Dannoise in French, and they also have several varieties, such as pastries topped with sweet cream, fruit and nuts, shaped like an apple, a fan, a bear’s paw, etc.

Apart from these types of bread, France offers a whole range of other breads, including whole meal breads (pain complet or pain aux céréales), rye bread (pain de seigle), sourdough bread (pain au levain), etc. 

 

And finally, why are we enlightening you on breads?

1. To add a slice of knowledge to your healthy mornings, much kneaded
2. Most importantly, you are not deprieved of breads or cakes at Bunk the Junk, we offer both in abundance

If only Queen Marie-Antoinette lived to see this day!

 

Bonjour!