Flour

[DanM]

I am looking for a recommendation for a quality brand of flour for bread, pastries, and general cooking/baking. I just moved to Geneva from the US, so I am not familiar with the local brands. I will be shopping in Annemasse France 80% of the time, if that helps.

 

Thanks!

[Chris Ward]

 

Hi Dan, sorry for not replying sooner.

 

I use the NAVARRE brand flour from Lidl. It's half the price of the premium brands in other supermarkets here, and is just as good; it's 'Type 45', which has the correct amount of gluten in it for doing patisserie. I buy most of my ingredients in Lidl, in fact. They're cheaper than other supermarkets and, frankly, I love that they have one type of (good) flour, one brand of sugar and so on - I'm not confronted with 20 kinds of flour/sugar when all I want to do is bake some madeleines! Their butter is good too. 

[DianaB]

For bread flour you will no doubt find cooperatives supplying to the trade in the part of France where you shop.  Through tenuous trade links I am able to buy sacks of 25kg at 17€.   If you are baking professionally you would clearly qualify to buy.  If not, chat with a local artisan Boulanger, he or she will probably be happy to sell you smaller quantities at little more than trade price. French boulangeries will also give or sell at cost small amounts of croissant pastry, puff pastry etc.  Lots quicker to roll that out than to make your own unless you have the magic rolling machine for laminated doughs.