Day 82

There have been some fabulous things said about bread. Robert Browning said "If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens".  James Beard remarked, " Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of all feasts". Then there was something found scribbled on an old cafe sign..."Bread is the warmest, kindest of all words. Write it always with a capital letter, like your own name". 

Today we baked our french baguettes and brioche. We made classically shaped baguettes and an épi de blé (sheaf of wheat). 

Knowing that we were going to have fresh french bread at our fingertips today .....I came prepared. I brought in some creamy burrata cheese, roasted red peppers, thai basil, and salami from home to make sandwiches.

We also made two different forms of Brioche :  à tête (formed in a small round fluted tin) and nanterre (formed in a standard loaf pan).

Chef Mah brought in some homemade raspberry preserves that he had canned last summer in the peak of berry season for us to spread on our just-out-of-the-oven brioche rolls. The preserves actually tasted like summer - bright and sweet - spread over the warm buttery bread.