Dartblog

I wonder what Steven Kaplan, the Cornell professor who is considered the world’s leading expert on the French baguette, would think of the yeasted baguette at the Alléchante Bakery across the river from Hanover in Norwich, Vermont. Kaplan is yet another creative academic who has plunged deeply into a subject that had hitherto not been explored in a formal, methodical way, and he has brought insight and understanding to it — and in the process helped to move breadmaking in France in the direction of its previous heights.

Kaplan is considered the authority on the subject even by the French, a level of renown not often achieved by American faculty members. His 766-page book The Best Bread in the World: The Bakers of Paris in the 18th Century is still for sale by Amazon France (currently in stock) thirteen years after its initial publication.

There is only one bakery in our neighborhood in the 16ème arrondissement of Paris that makes a baguette as good as that from Alléchante — albeit at half the price — and we have looked, let me tell you. Alléchante’s French baker, Daniel Rivat, works entirely with equipment imported from France, the most important piece being a stone hearth oven wherein the baking bread sits directly on a base of thick stone. His first-class ingredients contain no additives, enhancers or sugar. In fact, in a decision reminiscent of the German Reinheitsgebot which allowed beer to be produced only with water, barley and hops, Rivat uses only flour, water, yeast and salt in the baguettes.

Alléchante’s baguette is good, and not just by local standards. It is crispy on the outside, light of texture on the inside, and flavorful throughout. And because we don’t want to drive to Vermont each day to buy bread, we always have five or six frozen baguettes in the freezer in Hanover to defrost and crisp up in the oven (350° for 6-8 minutes, with a couple of ice cubes in there for moisture). We would happily buy Alléchante’s baguette in Paris, too.