It wasn’t really the Festival of Pain but the Festival de Pain (festival of bread). But I still find it curious that the word ‘pain’, pronounced ‘pahn‘ in French, can have two completely different meanings in two different languages.
Bare with me as I attempt to establish a connection between the two.
I was in pain after I walked into the tented makeshift bakery just outside Notre Dame to witness the festival of French bread bakers, because the smell of freshly baked pain hit my stomach and instantly rendered me starving.
This hunger pain, turned to physical pain as hundreds of people pushed themselves up to the counters eager to snatch up free samples. (In fact, I still have a very large black bruise on my arm). Nonetheless, in need of pain, I managed to squeak up to the front of one counter and my effort was repaid with a whole free piping hot baguette.
No pain no gain. Or rather: no gain no pain.
The artistry that went into making some of these loaves must have been painstakingly difficult. I mean, look at the ribbons and detail work made of just water and flour! Who knew such creativity was possible?
Perhaps these bakers should be called painters instead?
And then of course there’s the historical connection between pain and pain, The French Revolution, that left many nobles headless because of their failure to aid the starving working class. Those crabby peasants.
We all know that Marie Antoinette’s famous quote, “Let them eat cake” was really not in reference to a Betty Crocker gâteau but rather a tasty type of French bread that is cake-like, called brioche.
In theory the Queen’s statement, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” was really a good suggestion. Brioche is higher in nutritional value containing an outrageous amount of butter and egg yolks. In those days fancy breads were sold at higher prices and normal bread was price fixed (and still is to some degree).
The Queen’s idea to make brioche the same price as bread so the working class could eat well was probably better intended than history has suggested. Nonetheless, if you can’t buy bread at any price, fixed or not, heads are going to roll.
My head went happily back to my apartment munching my free hot baguette. Thinking, all the way home, of the significance one food item could have in a country’s history: the prestige and honor of the profession of bread baking today and the suffering and bloodshed that lack of the product has caused.
France has taken great pains to achieve it’s status as ‘best bread in world’ and I can’t think of a country more deserving of this title, all things considered.
Technorati Tags: bread, brioche, french
Wonderful photos, I absolutely adore bread! I can’t believe what works of art these are, I don’t think I’d ever have the patience to create something so beautiful. Hey, if you hit a tough spot in finding buttermilk, you can always make your own by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of milk and letting it sit for a couple minutes 🙂 Thanks for sharing the bread! Ellen
Hey Ms Glaze!
I love food type shows. I love bread . The smell when my granny would make it, awww the memories! Thanks for the pics. Have a great day!!!!
ciao
Wow… . I learnt how to make bread recently and these pictures are indeed an eye opener for me. I wish I had seen these pictures before my bread making week though. ^^
I have to admit that a lot of the bread I saw was really more for display. I can’t imagine popping one of those flour/water roses into my mouth. But, at the same time, I have never seen this level of artistic bread baking before. It was impressive. Braided challah bread is about as design oriented as my baking skills go.
Viva la Pain.
I’ve been wanting to make bread for a while, but after seeing these photos, lol, I don’t stand a chance! These all look spectacular
Beautiful artistry on the bread. That type of decoration on bread is so French. I might add that when I visited Versailles back in the 80’s, our guide mentioned that Marie Antionette’s famous line about let them eat “cake” was actually referring to the build up on the walls of the bread ovens. As a long time bread baker, I can attest to the fact that the walls do in fact become “caked” with flour from much baking and we use to spend some time every year scraping them down to clean the oven. That put the reference into perspective for me. Who knows what she really meant, but she was certainly out of touch with the French people’s reality.
Let it be known that your bruises weren’t for naught! I love food festivals, and will be checking out an italian version this weekend – Sagra del Pane – which of course initially had me giggling because how will I be able to compute window panes with bread?
You got off much easier with pain!
Gosh, it must’ve smelled intoxicating…lovely pics, thanks for sharing!
“Bare with me” – Ms. Glaze, you make me blush! I know you’re a cosmoplitan woman of the world now, but what would your San Francisoc friends say??!!! Oh, wait, it’s San Francisco… NEVER mind! :> Bare away…
I found a fabulous gluten-free bakery this past weekend, but alas! no fancy decorations. Gluten-free dough doesn’t really lend itself to shaping and cutting so much. Perhaps looking at decorated bread that wouldn’t taste good would be good therapy. One of my most “pain”ful thoughts about returning to France is not being able to eat the bread now.
SAS – I love your comments. You always make me laugh. I especially loved that comment you made on the Polenta cake recipe (much appreciated).
It’s so challenging to eat gluten-free and yes painful too. But at least there’s still cheese and wine!
Down with Atkins!
LOL! I love your ‘pain’ connections!