Archive for June 2013

Breakfast, lunch or merienda, I would cut a nice pandesal in half, spread some butter on it and sprinkle loads of sugar on top, then grill it in the oven until it's crunchy. I can have this everyday of the week and even ten more halved pandesal on sundays. I have always loved bread. The garlic bread I used to buy in Le Coeur de France in Manila was one of the many things I crave for. Even those Tasty bread, the white loaf of bread, toasted with Cheez Wizz. What a revelation it is to discover the world of bread when I arrived France! Above, the boulangerie in my little barrio, soon to be closed

The history of the baguette is said to go all the way back to Napoleon's Regime in the 18th century. The baguette was considered for the elitists, only privileging the aristocrats. At this time, it was round in form and was 90% of their daily consumption, eating a kilo a day of bread. One of the claims during the French Revolution was the birth of the "pain égalitaire," or the egalitarian bread. In 1793, a law was created to make bread the same and available for everybody, punishable by law of imprisonment, introducing the baguette we all know today. From measurements of 40cm, 300g to the current 90cm & 250g. Baguette is truly Parisian in origin and it had a hard time to be accepted by the farmers who preferred bread that can be kept for a week. Until now, a fresh baguette is good for a day. A dough made of flour, water, salt & yeast, it is strictly controlled in France. Above, the many types of bread in my preferred boulangerie, Moulin de Paiou, Grasse

The baguette is indispensable for the French who have it at almost every meal. The "pain grillé," or toasted bread with butter, jam or even Nutella for breakfast, and signs of bread crumbs on floors during lunch and dinner. 9 out of 10 buy fresh bread in the mornings, or almost. The price is regimented, not to go over a euro, and until recently, a boulangerie can only be called one if it is traditionally made the artisanal way. There are probably a hundred kinds of bread to date. Each boulangerie evolving to create new recipes labeling their personal signature breads. Although France has well preserved their traditional varieties like the baguette, or the "pain de campagne," principally served with Fondue Savoyarde, the taste and especially the texture will differ from one boulangerie to the other. It might even be safe to say that they create bread to match the food, as it is with wine. Above, the bread section found in any common supermarket

There is nothing like walking to your village boulangerie in the morning to get your fresh baguette straight from the oven. And it does not stop with a stick of bread. For the gourmand in all of us, your local boulangerie will likewise have a spread of breakfast treats from croissants, pains au chocolat, chouquettes, chaussons aux pommes, to name a few. As they say here, you get crap or nothing at all if you are a late riser. A boulangerie is also a patisserie, an art of confectioning assorted sugary based goodies. It is just truly paradise and a feast for the eyes. Above, fresh baguettes from my boulangerie, crunchy on the outside & soft in the inside

Another story that has been passed around is how the baguette got its shape. It is said that Napoleon's boulangers invented the baguette, as it was originally round in shape, to be easily transported by the soldiers. They had to tuck the baguette on the sides of their pants, along side their legs. We can already imagine the state of the baguette after a day of hike. So much history revolves around the bread of France. The lack of it for the commoners believed to have actually sparked the French Revolution. The white bread reserved for the rich and the peasants with the "pain noir," or dark bread made of spurious cereals, and of potatoes and beans. Probably that is how we get all the exquisite tastes France is known for. Only if they continue to produce the same quality to this day.

Baguette Express of Susan Eby Glass

The baguette is a wonderful cliché of France, as a bowl of rice for the Asians. Together with their wine & cheese, and berets. The everyday picture of the French walking in the streets with their baguettes tucked under their armpits. Like my pandesal, the baguette is already part of the better half of my taste buds.

My nephews just left the homeland two month ago to join their estranged father in Canada. Only now leaving a few of my immediate family the joy to come home to. At their early 20's, my nephews have been delightfully uprooted to brace a new life, a sparkling future and embrace a culture seemingly unknown to them. All that excitement of discovery and independence. What adventure!

It was never a thought years ago that I would have a family scattered around the world. I imagined mere phone calls and a short drive to have family sunday lunches. Or a birthday celebration and Christmases would mean a nice family gathering. My family is already small as it is and having my mother and two brothers thousands of kilometers away between all of us, each in our own corners, the void resonates even in our long distance phone calls. "I don't really see my parents and they just live a few kilometers from us!" a friend laughingly said. It made me wonder if I'd do the same if I have lived a few minutes from mine.

There are thousands of us who rely on this amazing technology to bridge the distance but it is never the same. Distance, and time, creates a gap. No matter how updated we are from afar. But even how psychotic our families are, this gap disappears everytime we come home. It is the only comfort of being home, our families. The one thing that never change.

Whatever it is that made us move to places, a job, a better life, or even love, we all know how it is to endure this absence. And not a lot of us even has the privilege to come home as we wish. But we get by and cherish more the importance of family. Especially now with my mother, who has been literally alone for two months now back home. "No more black headed big rats to finish all the food in the house," she half-laughingly told me. I am hoping to give her my best Christmas gift ever this year, to surprise her by being home for the holidays. The only bright side with having a few family left back home is there is less worry about pasalubongs (meeting gift), and more quality time with each of them.

It is already hard to leave home but sometimes, it's much more difficult for those who are left behind. My nephews after a month of arriving Toronto already have jobs & basketball friends. Settling and integrating well and it is my only hope that they will keep in their hearts to remember the joys of family, in this wide distance.

Popular Posts

blog archive