Baguette tradition
Photo: Nick Thweatt · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

The baguette took its long thin form in Paris in the 1830s when Viennese baker August Zang introduced steam-oven techniques. The current standard, the baguette de tradition française, was defined by the 1993 décret on traditional bread, which limits the loaf to four ingredients: flour, water, yeast, salt. No additives, no freezing, hand-shaping required. The Concours de la Meilleure Baguette de Paris has been awarded annually since 1994; the winner becomes the official supplier to the Élysée Palace for a year. Du Pain et des Idées on Rue Yves Toudic and Utopie on Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud have both won; both still queue daily.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 3Hands-on 45 minTotal 18 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500g strong bread flour (T65 if you can find it)
  • 350g cold water
  • 10g fine sea salt
  • 2g instant yeast
  • Rice flour or coarse semolina for dusting

Method

  1. Mix the flour, water and yeast in a large bowl until no dry flour remains. Cover and rest 30 minutes (autolyse).
  2. Add the salt and knead in the bowl by stretching and folding for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
  3. Cover and rest at room temperature for 4 hours, performing a stretch-and-fold every 45 minutes for the first 3 hours.
  4. Refrigerate the dough overnight (12 to 16 hours) for the long cold ferment that gives the baguette its open crumb.
  5. The next day, divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Pre-shape into loose cylinders, rest 20 minutes, then shape into baguettes 45 to 50cm long with tight surface tension.
  6. Place seam-side-down on a floured couche or tea towel folded into ridges. Prove 60 minutes at room temperature.
  7. Preheat the oven to 250°C with a baking stone or upturned tray inside. Score each baguette with 4 diagonal slashes.
  8. Slide the loaves onto the hot stone, throw a small handful of ice cubes onto a tray on the oven floor for steam, close the door fast.
  9. Bake 18 to 22 minutes until deep golden and hollow-sounding when tapped. Cool on a rack 15 minutes before eating.

Tip from the editors. The cold overnight ferment is non-negotiable: it builds the open crumb. Skip it and you get a dense, supermarket-style baguette.

Where to eat baguette tradition

Baguette tradition in Paris

Du Pain et des Idées ★ 4.8

€ BakeryLevain breads and laminated pastriesWalk-in only

Christophe Vasseur's Du Pain et des Idées in Paris's 10e remains the boulangerie every other counter measures itself against. At 34 Rue Yves Toudic.

Worth the queueEscargot pistache-chocolat

TipClosed weekends. Arrive before 09:00 for the pain des amis; escargots sell out by 13:00.

Directions

Poilâne ★ 4.7

€ BakerySourdough micheWalk-in only

Poilâne in Paris has baked a signature sourdough miche from a wood-fired oven on Rue du Cherche-Midi since 1932. Booking recommended. Reservations advised.

Worth the queuePain Poilâne miche

TipThe half-miche feeds two for a week. Ask for the cocktail-size punitions at the till.

Directions

Utopie ★ 4.6

€ BakerySourdough breads and pastryWalk-in only

Utopie in Paris's 11e is the modern boulangerie Sebastien Bruno and Erwan Blanche built into a black-fronted shop with the city's best black-sesame baguette.

Worth the queueSesame baguette

TipCash and card both work. The flan vanille is the second pick after the sesame baguette.

Directions

Boulangerie BO ★ 4.4

€ BakeryOrganic levain breads and Japanese-inflected viennoiserieWalk-in only

Boulangerie BO in Paris's 12e is Olivier Haustraete's listed-monument boulangerie by Marché d'Aligre, baking organic baguette tradition and Tokyo-honed.

Worth the queueBaguette tradition

TipThe cherry-blossom Mont Blanc in spring is the seasonal pick; the baguette tradition is the everyday order.

Directions

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