Explanation of Boulangeries?

[Abra]

For some reason I can't quite figure this out. We have a Festival des Pains bakery right next door, so we go there a lot. It's not the best boulangerie in town, that one's a Copaline bakery, so we divide our time between them - breakfast from next door, later in the day from a few blocks away.

But what does it all mean? I tried asking my FdP lady, but from her explanation I didn't get a clear picture. I went to the FdP website, and from there I get the idea that it's a cooperative or collective of mills all over France, and in addition to flour it provides recipes and instruction to the bakers that buy from it and sport the FdP "brand." But my local boulangere says they only get the flour delivered, not the dough (as I'd imagined) and that everything is made there. And indeed, I've been in other FdP bakeries in other villages and seen different products, and of differing quality.

Can someone give me a rundown on how it all works?

[Ptipois]

To describe it briefly, it is a little-known form of industrial baking masquerading as artisanal baking. It is actually a sort of franchise.

Quaint names like Banette, Baguépi, Rétrodor, etc., are brand names for baked products made from special flour mixes created by the meuniers (flour companies). The mixes are sold to the individual bakers with special strict guidelines to use them, PRs come and teach the boulanger how to use the flour and shape the bread, etc., the brand is pasted on the shop window and printed onto the wrapping paper, sometimes a sign is added above the window (Banette), etc.

Initially this situation was aimed at improving the baking techniques (in the late 70s and 80s, the art of boulangerie was in a very poor state in France and levain had nearly disappeared. Rétrodor for instance was instrumental in bringing back the use of sourdough and slow fermentation). But in some cases they have overdone it and have played an important part in the standardization of French bread — and in the extinction of local forms of baking.

Edited November 6, 2007 by Ptipois (log)

[Abra]

Thanks, that's what we were suspecting. In the case of FdP, their Pain Aveyronnais is the best bread I've found in the Gard, bar none. It's delicious, an overnight pain au levain with huge holes and a formidable crunchy crust. And the pain au chataignes is very good too, so I'm not dissing them, but I'd suspected it of being a franchise of some sort.

[Ptipois]

Thanks, that's what we were suspecting.  In the case of FdP, their Pain Aveyronnais is the best bread I've found in the Gard, bar none.  It's delicious, an overnight pain au levain with huge holes and a formidable crunchy crust.  And the pain au chataignes is very good too, so I'm not dissing them, but I'd suspected it of being a franchise of some sort.

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Even while they follow the instructions of flour companies and churn out dozens of the very same Banettes as the ones produced in Valenciennes on the same day, the more gifted boulangers have a margin of creativity and are always able to make stuff of their own. A contract or two with a flour company does not mean they are bound to produce only what the company dictates. Which is why you have to be very careful and explore, taste, try as much as you can.

Concerning the pain aveyronnais, you are spot on. Aveyron has always been a great region for bread. In Aubrac they have a special sourdough method which produces superior white bread and I remember from years ago people stuffing their trunks with baguettes from a special boulanger in Laguiole, ready to take them home miles away and fill their deep-freezer. If your boulangère has the recipe for that type of bread and the suitable flour, she may be the only one to produce it miles around, but it will be good. In the same way, my friend Laurent Bonneau (who makes one of the greatest baguettes in Paris) sells "seigle auvergnat" bread which is very much like the dark cracked round rye loaves that you can find in lower Auvergne. What you have to do is 1) have the recipe, 2) have the right flour and 3) know your levain well.

[John Talbott]

Even while they follow the instructions of flour companies and churn out dozens of the very same Banettes as the ones produced in Valenciennes on the same day, the more gifted boulangers have a margin of creativity and are always able to make stuff of their own.

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What I love is watching the truck A. from Les Moulins de......B. discharge its formula into a huge pipe which in turn goes into the cellar of artisanal baker C., not unlike gasoline.

But you're spot on, Pti, even chain franchises turn out different products; in our area Brand D. has three bakeries, all of whose end-products (despite the piped-in stuff) are different.

[Abra]

And then there are all the little patisserie-type items they make - are those part of the formula too? The ones at our Copaline place are super-professional, while the FdP stuff looks really homemade, lopsided, and homey.