Side question: Why do people buy baguettes? Do they make sandwiches with them? How do you even make a sandwich from them? How are you meant to beat a baguette???
Think of a baguette as a 3 feet long sub-sandwich. Now it starts to make sense doesn’t it ?
For some soups, a great way to serve them is to toast a thick slice of one of the uncut loaves (so you can cut it thick), then place it in the middle of a wide bowl and serve the soup on top of that. Sometimes, you put another sauce that harmonizes well with the souo on the bread, first.
Then you eat it as the soup absorbs into the bread, experiencing a combination of soggy and dry bread textures along with the flavour of the broth (and sauce, if present).
It wouldn’t work with a standard loaf of bread, as both the slices and the bread itself aren’t thick enough to keep it from quickly going fully soggy. Breaking crackers or dipping toast into soup are pale imitations (ok, dipping toast isn’t that far off, but I still prefer a good thick piece of toast).
Also, if you take a baguette and cut it into thinner slices then toast/bake those slices, you end up with a much cheaper version of those artisan crackers that are just dried pieces of baguette.
Also, look up beef wellington for one of the more extreme uses of non-standard bread.
Cheese fondue.
Depends if they are baked in a container or not.
Look for baguette sandwich in DDG
You just slice it horizontally for that.
For dipping in Soup, you fool
Baguettes are delicious, use a knife if you want to do a sandwich, what’s the difficulty?
I took a trip to Tahiti a couple years back, which is a French territory. Baguettes everywhere. Fellows sold sandwiches with baguettes as the bun. French toast was day old baguettes and phenomenal. Sometimes you just ate baguettes and saw people riding their mopeds with a bag of baguettes. It’s versatile and great.
Is this a trick question?
It might be a troll, zoomer, or just an idiot.
I mean, zoomers are almost all in their 20s at this point. Some of them are inching toward 30, so I dunno if I would place upon them, the notion that they are too dumb to know how bread has different shapes.
But yeah, if it’s a troll, them I’m whooshing because I don’t get the joke. If it’s stupidity I am concerned for the OP’s wellbeing lol 😆
Either way I’m just confused by this post. 😆
industry vs. artisan goods?
Why are they different shapes?
Sliced bread is made in loaf pans
Sourdough is made on a flat tray in the shape of a ball so it spreads out a bit.
Baguettes are made by a long strand of dough.
Bonus answer: the reason why sourdough and the baguette have the textured crust is due to the dough being sliced with a knife prior to baking.
personally i eat the whole baguette.
With butter.
US , EU and FR variants.
Side question: Why do people buy baguettes? Do they make sandwiches with them?
Sometimes, sometimes just eat with butter. They make good toasts too.
How do you even make a sandwich from them?
Just cut it open and put the ham and cheese inside it, not much to it really. Either cut the slice in half if I’m feeling poor or fold it in two if I’m feeling rich.
ELI5: dough can take any shape you give it.
You can load the dough into a metallic shape and close it with a lid, and you’ll get picture 1.
Or you can make a ball out of it and leave it be on a flat surface, and it will naturally expand to look like picture 2.
Side question: narrow shape makes baguette have a more crispy texture, which many people like. It’s also usually produced using a special kind of sourdough, which makes it have unique and rich taste. People eat it as is (just biting it from one end to another) or make small open sandwiches by cutting it in slices and putting all sorts of toppings on top of them.
Why would you want to bake in a container vs a flat surface? Why are some types of bread one shape, and others another? Is it just tradition, or is there some practical aspect?
Baking in a rectangular shape allows you to make a space efficient bread that you can easily stack and transport. Also, it is very predictable, can fit neatly into your toaster, and can be cut in triangles.
Making bread on a flat surface allows you to minimize costs of entry (not only don’t you need the forms which are relatively cheap, you can go with simpler/cheaper ovens), and this kind of bread has a more pronounced crust, which many people like.
Also, rectangular bread is harder to leaven for a long period of time as it comes with numerous technological complications down the production line. This affects the aroma composition, making rectangular bread less attractive for those who want the traditional “bread” taste.
Baguette, as I already mentioned, has a unique crust and crumb texture defined by the shape and baking conditions. Many people like it that way.
Making bread on a flat surface allows you to minimize costs of entry (not only don’t you need the forms which are relatively cheap, you can go with simpler/cheaper ovens), and this kind of bread has a more pronounced crust, which many people like.
Crusts like this generally require a lot of steam in the oven, and steam ovens are usually much more expensive than non-steam ovens.
If you want a homemade loaf that can actually produce the type of bubbly crust you expect in certain types of European style breads, you’ll have to trap a lot of steam where you’re baking it, often by containing it in a Dutch oven.
And shaping/forming a loaf that stays tall when being baked on a flat surface takes skill, lots of practice and experience.
Crusts like this generally require a lot of steam in the oven
Fair enough!
And shaping/forming a loaf that stays tall when being baked on a flat surface takes skill, lots of practice and experience.
Or a fairly inexpensive machine that will do it for you. Of course though, there’s a special pleasure in making a truly artisan bread with your own hands. But hey, it’s not that hard if you know what you’re doing. Best to see it in action.
But then again, I speak from the side of low-scale industrial baking. For a home baker, all this machinery will be an overkill.
Whoops, didn’t realize you were talking about industrial scale. I guess that makes sense, and I would have no idea which type of bread uses cheaper equipment.
I saw someone just cut it down the middle and make a long skinny sandwich with one. I didn’t even know that was legal.
Try a jambon-beurre, incredibly simple, incredibly delicious.
I like the idea of the metric subway sandwich being a metre-longue
Do they not have a sub shop on your planet?
Lol, yes, it can be done, but it needs to be packed or cut from one side only, otherwise it will likely fall apart.
(Also it’s an ungodly abomination and there are certainly better options to do this with)
You’re not supposed to beat a baguette, you’re supposed to beat people with a baguette!
I beat my baguette frequently. Usually with some lotion and choice photos of my best friend’s mom.
Stacy’s very disappointed in you.
That’s part of my kink. Shamesturbation is a real riot.
