About the Baguette: Exploring the Origin of a French National Icon

Where did the baguette come from? A simple enough question, but this search for an answer ranges from Babylon and Egypt to the first long (but wide) breads in France to the gradual evolution of long narrow breads from the eighteenth into the twentieth century, resulting in both the roll-sized "flute" and the gigantic jockos of the nineteenth century. Along the way, the reader will learn more about the fendu, the porteuses de pain, the influence of Viennese baking on French methods and a wide range of shapes and sizes of bread, as well as the most common tales of how the baguette came to be. Adventurous bakers can try one of several early American recipes for making long breads. The book also includes looks at how Parisian bakers made their bread, at another type of "baguette" they used and at two of the baguette's cousins.