B is for boulangerie

une boulangerie :: a bakery (french lesson for the day)

what else?? the french take their bread very seriously, VERY seriously indeed. widespread famine linked to massive bread shortages plagued the last months of louis XVI's reign, and along with some very badly managed wars, a staggering national debt, and an unfortunate comment by his lovely bride ("qu'ils mangent de la brioche!"), helped lead to his demise at the foot of the guillotine.

today bread is served at every meal and baked on nearly every corner. a professor at cornell, steven kaplan, has written a contemporary history of bread and a guide to the best bakeries in paris. you must watch this clip of his appearance on the conan o'brien show - it's hilarious. and a little bit creepy. anyway, you'll never look at a baguette the same way again.

one of knox's first priorities when we settled in the 14th was to find a new bakery. we were big fans of maison keyser in the 5th, but it's too far now for the daily dose, so within days, he'd found our replacement.

l'atelier d'antan - workshop of yesteryear (for the longest time we thought 'antan' was a dude's name and that this was his workshop. we're just glad knox never asked which one was antan!)

this is the best bread in the 'hood, no doubt about it. i had my pal delphine over for dinner a few weeks ago, and she agreed (imagine my pride - i impressed a frenchie with my bread savvy!). they close at 8 though, which jacks our work schedule just a bit, so we've started buying in 'bulk' and freezing a few loaves at a time. still awesome.

knox, trying to resist the urge to bite into the fresh baguette - most of the time, he's unsuccessful.

january is also galette des rois season. the french eat the galette for the epiphany, the holiday that celebrates the visit of the three kings to the baby jesus. many celebrate on the first sunday of the month, but since the actual date is a little fuzzy, the galettes are served all month. for knox and me, i'll be honest, the celebration is one not of christ, but of the buttery-frangipanyyy-goodness that is the galette des rois (and we have made it a point to celebrate at least 5 or 6 times this month). traditionally, there is a fava bean hidden in the galette, and if it's found in your slice, you get to be the king or queen for the day (which, sadly, does NOT excuse you from dishes). typically, the youngest member of the family hides under the table and decides which slices go to whom, but since knox is really just too big for that, we usually buy the 2-man galette, sans fava. still dee-lish.

all this talk about bread... hmmm, i've got some chèvre and a few tomatoes lying around - i think it's time for lunch!!