The different type of French bread

La Baguette

Presumably, the baguette is the most iconic French bread. What sets it apart from other loaves is its size, measuring about 2 inches in width and up to 1.5 inches in height but with an extraordinary 25 inches in length. This bread is clearly impossible to ignore, and that’s not all; while the rules stipulate that the bread should be prepared with wheat flour, water, leaven or yeast, and salt to cook like every other loaf, it has a distinctive crispy flavor. Baguettes have a deep golden crunchy crust with a white, fluffy crumb riddled with numerous holes in the interior. Over time the crust can become chewy and so it is advised to eat this loaf within a few days of baking. Often classified as a savory bread pudding, Lao-style chicken baguette sandwiches with watercress and buttery crab pudding, some of the better tasting baguette meals contain zucchini tomato strata.

Ficelle

Ficelle is a slimmer version of the classic French baguette. This loaf has an elegant slender shape; its name refers to a string that explains one’s preference. Ficelle features a delicious and crunchy crust with a slightly chewy interior. The outside layer is golden-brown, while the inside is mainly light white. For first-timers, baking a ficelle can be overwhelming, particularly if you contemplate going the sourdough way. When preparing the dough, some sort of scoring and shaping expertise is required if you want to pull off an aesthetically pleasing ficelle. Many professional bakers can use a choice for sourdough and yeast when cooking the bread. Mostly served at formal meals in French cuisine ficelles. However, they still make for a perfect breakfast bread. Simply break a piece of bread, and spread a butter dollop over it. Its closeness to a baguette also makes it a perfect substitute for any baguette of similar meals in terms of flavor and ingredients. 

Pain de Campagne

Also referred to as the French sourdough, Pain de Campagne is a large loaf which is often round in form. This bread’s dense character can be attributed to the combination of whole wheat flour and white flour used to make the loaf. Although most recipes rely on baker’s yeast, they may also use natural leavening. Because of its rather large size, most loaves are scored to allow even expansion of the crust without cracking. This often allows the production of a rich taste and a brownish shade. The bread is also known in the French countryside as Pain Paysan, which translates loosely into farmer’s bread. This is because this was the most popular bread for years, when communal bakeries were a thing. Pain de Campagne can be eaten with just about every meal, from baking sandwiches to toasting and even creating bread crumbs, much like any other wholemeal pizza. The sour like flavor, though, best goes down with meat like ham.

Pain de mie (soft bread or white bread)

A close-enough translation of the name of this common French bread is “crustless bread,” referring to its thin crust layer and thick white interior. The bread consists of wheat starch, water, oil, shortening, sugar, and leaven. While it is typically processed industrially and distributed cut and packed in supermarkets, it can be conveniently rendered at home. Usually, Pain de mie is baked in a square or rectangular covered pans which ensure the characteristic form. The cover prevents the bread from fully rising, producing a fine, compact crumb. The French most often use it for toasting, while its thickness and shape make it ideal for the preparation of the classic French croque-monsieur sandwich. A more recent, industrial version of the bread is called 100 percent pain de mie, a sliced loaf of pain de mie with the crust completely removed. Because of the shortening used in the preparing process, which other French bread usually skip, Pain de mie stays fresh for a long time.

Pain au son

Technically speaking, Pain au Son is nothing more than an ordinary bran bread. Whole grain wheat flour is the primary constituent of this bread. The extra bran and germ provide high fiber content and are strongly recommended for the digestive system and heart-related disease prevention. This bread is hard to miss, with a dark brown crust that is often chewy and a dark interior with a dense crumb. Wholemeal bread is often preferred as it is rich in nutrition, which helps one feel complete and happy for longer while reducing the need to feed regularly. This goes a long way in keeping weight healthy. Add it to stews and casseroles, make rolls for dinner or simply toast. You can also have your breakfast using wholemeal bread crumbs on oatmeal. 

Pain aux noix

This yeasted bread in French style is usually made with wheat or whole wheat flour and grossly chopped walnuts that are kneaded in the dough, though some variations can also contain other nuts, generally grossly chopped hazelnuts. Usually formed into rectangular or circular loaves, it is distinguished by its dark brown crust and a light brown interior dotted with kernels of walnut. If appropriate, make sure to use whole wheat flour and the sweet and meaty French walnuts for the best performance. The bread pairs great with butter, soft cheeses, charcuterie, savory spreads, or sweet toppings like honey or fruit preserves because of its rich and nuanced flavors. 

Pain a l’Ail (Garlic bread)

Pain a l’Ail (garlic bread) refers to French bread flavored with garlic. The recipe varies wildly, with only one consistent ingredient from one baker to the next; garlic. This bread is more than a welcome addition in any pantry with a brownish, almost golden crust and a soft crumb that soaks up the sauce. The baking process also has a crispy texture that brings out the rustic garlic flavor. This bread has many special forms to feed. Putting cheese on it or incorporating any herbs would change the already rich flavor instantly. Also, don’t limit yourself to just one variety of bread; essentially, most bread recipes can turn into garlic bread by simply adding garlic to the preparation. Then go ahead and experiment with different meal combos such as Bolognese spaghetti with crispy garlic bread. 

Pain Couronne

There’s no lack of bread styles in France, a circular bread with a hole in the center is Pain Couronne, hence the ring-shaped pattern. The French word Couronne always translates as a crown. The bread is very sweet and is typically produced with wheat flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. This gives it a fluffy inside, but the loaf may also be dense depending on the baker. There are two major varieties of Couronne ‘s pain: the small Couronne, which is a small version with an almost doughnut-like appearance, and the large Couronne, which is rather large but easy to cut. Over the years, artisan bakers have come up with two different types based on the crust ‘s quality, wherein we have the standard crust which is a tad bit fluffy much like white bread, and the crispy crust which is golden brown with a crispy quality. There’s almost no limit on whether you can consume this bread as a snack; it goes down very well with morning coffee, or you can just slice it and dunk it into your favorite sauce. 

Pain perdu ( French toast)

Considered an early version of the famous French toast breakfast fare, the pain perdu is a simple French dish based on ancient, stale bread. Even its name suggests the use of stale bread for this dish, which translates into lost bread or wasted bread in French. Slices of old bread with their crusts missing are immersed in an egg-and-milk mixture before being fried in melted butter until beautifully colored and crispy, to create pain perdu. An old English cookbook going back to about 1430 contained a recipe for a dish called pain perdu (French toast). Each variant involves dipping bread slices into pounded eggs, then frying them in oil, and finally serving these fried slices with sugar on top. According to the Cookery book by Martha Washington, pain perdu was embraced early by the English; hence, the recipe for the dish was used in almost every English cookbook. Another 18th-century version suggests soaking crustless slices of bread in a mixture of beaten eggs, cream, wine (Sac), sugar, and nutmeg. Then, the soaked bread slices are fried in butter and enjoyed with a sauce made with sugar, butter and sac.

Brioche

While most French types of bread are considered to be rigid sticklers to the formula of four ingredients, the brioche is a pleasant break from that custom. This classic French yeasted bread has a high content of butter and eggs which gives it a soft, fluffy texture. This also extends to the flavor, whereby the combination of flour and these two ingredients will create magical savory sweetness that will bring you back to you for more. Thanks to the pale-yellow crumb with a shiny crust that is thin but with a golden-brown hue, brioche bread is rather easy to identify. Most loaves are rectangular in shape, although certain artisan bakers typically take it one step further by shaping a round boule with a muffin-like ball on top. As with other varieties of French bread, there is no shortage of dishes that go down well with a brioche. From juicy sliced tomatoes to crunchy bacon. You can eat this buttery bread with breakfast, or make it into a lunch sandwich. If you have some remaining brioche, just make it toast with French. 

Tarte flambée

You shouldn’t make the mistake of calling tarte flambée a pizza because you could offend the locals in Alsace, France who help in making this thin, crispy, rectangular flatbread that is covered with tart and spreadable cheese (fromage blanc). It could also be covered by melting ripe cheese (Munster), cream fraîche, crispy bacon, and thinly sliced roasted onions. A sprinkle of cinnamon, ground pepper, peanut oil, and nutmeg fill this favorite snack with extra layers of taste. Also known in Germany as flammeküche, the flaming tart takes its name from the fact that it is baked in a brick oven very close to hot embers. It naturally spread well beyond Alsace due to its popularity, so there are many varieties of the dish with added mushrooms or tomatoes. Tarte flambée matches well with dry white wines and local foamy beers, all of which are Alsace region specialties. 

Pain d’épices (Gingerbread)

Often described as a cross between bread and a dessert, this classic French honey cake. It is a specialty of Dijon, believed to have its origins in China, where a similar cake of spices was made in the 10th century. It first appeared in France in 1711 and was especially popular in Reims and Dijon. It was scarcely used in French cuisine in the wake of World War II, but it soon recovered its reputation. Pain d’épices can be made with flour of honey, rye, or wheat (depending on the region) and spices such as cardamom, anise, cinnamon , nutmeg and cloves. It is usually baked in a loaf and served with delicious dishes such as foie grass or gourmet cheeses. It is often also incorporated in or served alongside classic French desserts, however. Pain d’épices can be found on traditional markets, where honey merchants usually sell it, or in classic French patisseries. 

Fougasse

Fougasse originates in south-eastern France, also known as Provence. This flatbread has a salty, herby flavor that is credited to the many ingredients used. Some types of fougasse have sliced designs, or are sculpted to imitate a wheat head. Indeed, Fougasse is considered an ancient form of modern pizza, without the tomatoes that it is. In its preparation, some of the herbs and vegetables used are thyme, basil, sundried tomatoes, anchovies, olives, and fresh rosemary. Fougasse is best eaten from the oven while still warm and can be used to produce a French version of a calzone. This is achieved by using cheese and tiny squarish strips of bacon folded over the bread. Other flavors include Roquefort and nuts, dried fruit, and olives. 

Bretzel d’Alsace

The pretzel, considered a classic emblem of Germany, is a form of typical baked bread produced by mixing flour, salt, malt, yeast, and water. The resulting dough is then molded into a well-known knotted pretzel shape before being baked to perfection. Pretzels are often dipped before being baked in a lye solution (natronlauge in German), and then they are known as laugenbrezel, a Bavarian-style pretzel distinguished by a nice, brown, and crispy exterior surrounding the soft interior. Coarse salt is typically rubbed over the pretzel surface but other toppings, including sesame, corn, sunflower, or poppy seeds, can also be used. There are many geographic variants of the pretzel, with some using fat to produce a smoother dough and some opting for various forms of flour such as whole wheat flour or spelt meal. German pretzels come in both savory and sweet versions and can range from soft to hard in texture. For an authentic German experience, they are usually enjoyed warm as a butter snack or together with German Wurst sausages and a cold German beer alongside. The pretzel is a favorite street snack and a staple at any national festival, holiday, and Christmas market. Its versatile nature led to numerous variations, including New Year’s pretzels (neujahrbrezel), Oktoberfest pretzels (also known as wiesnbrezn), and Lent pretzels (fastenbrezeln), among many others.

Pogne

This delicious bread is baked with leavened, brioche-like flour, flavored with water from the orange blossom. Typically it is shaped into a large, round loaf with a top sometimes decorated with pearl sugar. It is thought that the recipe first appeared in the Middle Ages, and was originally made as a traditional Easter bread. Its origin is intimately linked to the Rhône-Alpes region.