Espionage

Today was normal, didn’t do anything new, but I definitely am getting faster and more efficient at things though. I got to taste a tarte abricot which is pate feulleteille with crème patissiere and tinned apricots which is baked so the edges of the apricots start to caramelise and almost burn which gives them a nice chewy spun sugar taste to contrast the slight tartness of the apricots. I also tried the tarte chocolat which is self-explanatory and a madeleine made with pistachio paste which gave the final product an almost floral aroma and flavour.

I went down the road to do some espionage at another bakery and bought a baguette de tradition, baguette de campagne and a croissant. Both breads had very little flavour and the “aveleoration” or cell structure was very dense with very few large bubbles. You could also see where the seam was from the shaping as a thin line of unhydrated flour was visible which is also partly because the dough doesn’t have a high enough hydration, so during the secondary fermentation it can’t absorb water because the dough is too dry and therefore hard. Croissant was standard frozen, bodiless shit. I’m really glad I work with people who don’t make the most money even though they make a fantastic product but who really care and pride themselves and what they do. That’s the kind of person I hope I am in the future and can pass it on to the next generation. It’s all about the love.

After work I brought a “baguette de gones” home (“gones” is a term only used in Lyon when referring to kids) as well as a miche de multicereals biologique which has a coating of oats which gives it an almost peanut butter like taste which is really unique.

Carlotte, a German girl is staying for the week and Fatiha, Carlotta and I all had some bread with beautiful pork rillettes and fromage a tartiner and some wine from Tuscany...so simple and so good. After about 2 glasses of wine I was feeling sleepy and actually passed out, sleeping from 3pm until 1am the next morning, when I had to get ready for work and Fatiha was only going to bed then.

Just another day at the office

Today was pretty standard; it was me, Alexandre and Yan (same pronunciation as Jan). I preshaped the baguettes while Alexandre used the “diviseuse” (divider) and Yan did the pain bio. I’m getting the hang of the shaping but it’s also very dependent on how much or how you flour the dough and surface as like I said before it’s a very soft dough and coupled with being cold (wet) makes it difficult to handle.

I’m definitely speeding up though. Standard stuff charentais, flutes, dejeunettes [170g] (tradition, campagne and multi cereals...roll for sandwiches), fiscelles [150g] (means string in French...Alexandre told me to just think of a g string...; p). I helped shape the kamut and spelt. And also the pain de seigle Auvergne (rye bread, speciality from Auvergne which is the region in France where Mr Pozzoli is from, it has a rye leavain and is mixed on the day and then put in the prover so the dough is warm and then to shape it, you flour the dough in the bowl, flour your hands, all with T85 rye flour, and then form a point with your hands and scoop a piece out, correct the weight and then gently form in a round shape and put seam side down in a pailles. It’s not formed a lot so you have a dense texture and the top cracks nicely...will take a pic soon)

I helped Yan with the pain viennoise and then shaped the baguettes with the machine. I’m also more efficient with that as well, but the height of the table kills my back because to place the last baguettes on the couche I have to stretch far.

I got to score some baguettes and load them in the oven this afternoon which was cool but it was frustrating for me because I’m used to a certain angle of scoring as well as using more of my wrist and here they cut at a much straighter, oblique angle down the middle as it doesn’t affect the regularity of the form during baking (scoring – laminé) on my second batch I improved but it’s about 70% of how it should be. Like most of the different things here, it’s just a habit that I need to get used to.

After the baking they have a special vacuum to clean out the oven, not using a big brush, and it’s long and has a thick PVC sleeve so you can hold it. Only think is the pipe is metal and gets flippen hot...

But generally there isn’t much flour in the oven as they don’t need to use much flour during proving or loading the breads as they have the couches and tapis respectively.

Chef made pate feulleteille which is like puff pastry but it normally has sugar in it and when they make a “savoury (salé)” pate it’s the same but just less sugar. Like most French pastries, it’s mixed for a long time at a lower speed. They made cheese straw type snacks with this, one flavour with seeds and one with spices and cheese. The other day chef made a pastry with fennel (fenouil) seeds that was shaped into rings and baked and meant to be had with an apéro which was pretty cool.

After work I went into the cellar to play with the cat...I still don’t know what to call him. But when he sees me now he meows and tries to attack my shoes and rub himself on me. He loves playing and ends up biting and scratching my arm but when I stop he forces his head under my arm or hand.