Please help me identify this bread

[Hwertheim]

We just got back from two weeks in France, and at the local boulangerie in a Paris suburb, we got hooked on a delicious bread. I can't remember what it was called - perhaps pain du bois feuillette or something like that....I'd love to try to recreate it at home, but can't find a recipe since I don't know what it was called.

It came in either a baton or a small round loaf, was dark brown in colour, had a texture like a croissant in that it had many thin layers, was quite buttery, but whole-grainy, with flax seeds. It also had sour undertones.

Thanks in advance!

Hannah

[Joe Blowe]

Do you see it on the map?

[pennylane]

Was it this?

[Hwertheim]

Joe - I can't really tell if it is on your map as the quality of the image is not good enough for me to see the individual breads that well...is there anywhere else I can see the map?

Pennylane - It could be that - the bread we had looked a bit different, but I assume that there would be a range of appearance due to individual bakers own styles....what is the name of bread in the picture?

Thanks!

Hannah

[pax]

Whatever it is, it has my mouth watering! Please share, pennylane!

[schneich]

looks like a criossant to me eh ??

t.

[pennylane]

It's Delmontel's famous feuillete de seigle. It actually doesn't look as croissanty as it does in the picture... it looks more like a small round dark brown (rye) loaf, but then when you cut into it (or impatiently tear it open), the many layers are exposed. It has the texture of a croissant with the taste of rye bread (and it's also heavier than a croissant - I ate the whole thing as a snack the first two times I had it and the third time discovered that it weighed 200g).

If you really want to know what the bread you had was, Hannah, why don't you tell me where this bakery was so I can track it down for you? Not many bakeries make this kind of bread so I'm not sure if it's really it's the one you had. But if it is, we can experiment together as I've also been thinking of trying to make it at home. I was also thinking of trying a pain au chocolat version. I love Nutella on rye bread so I think it would be a good combination.

[Lindacakes]

Since there is an expert involved, can I ask a bread identity question?

Not really a bread, a pastry . . .

When I was in Paris I fell for a pain au sucre (?) -- a round pastry the size of a small plate poked with a variety of finger-sized holes. These holes were filled with a mixture of butter and sugar, whipped together, a gritty melting butter.

Yow. Very good. I asked when I got back, and some folks responded, and I looked for the recipes they recommended, but nothing was "it".

[Hwertheim]

Hi Pennylane,

I don't think it is exactly the same bread since it didn't taste particularly rye-ish, and it had flax seeds. But it certainly looks like it is in the same family.

If you do want to go to the bakery, it is right outside of the Mairie des Lilas metro station, is quite small, and the bread itself is usually displayed on the actual counter to the left of the cash register. It either comes in a short stick or a small round loaf. You could ask the woman at the counter for a bread that is something like "feuillette des bois".

We appreciate your sleuthing!

Hannah

[pennylane]

Well, Hannah, I found your bread. It's called "pain du bois feuillete", just as you recall. It seems to be more or less the sourbread version of the rye bread at Delmontel.

(Sorry about the next picture - by the time I saw how blurry it was I had already eaten the slice!)

I must say I prefer the rye version. But this one is good too. Have you tried to recreate it at home? I would think it would just be a matter of making a sourbread dough and then laminating it, as for a croissant or pain au chocolat?