I woke up today with a sore back, right at the base of my neck. I finally realized why when I left school this afternoon….making bread. On Thursday, my patisserie group got to make bread, the real French bread: baguettes and sandwich bread. It was so cool. Making bread makes me happy.

My class is so much fun. It started off, like most every class (cuisine and patisserie), with a song, the whole class (who knows English) begins to sing “O Happy Days”. (It usually only 6 of us, but it is still fun.)That’s right, the same song in Sister Act II. The chefs think it is funny and it puts everyone in a good mood. So why not do it. So we sing, weigh out ingredients and began making bread. We kneaded the bread for at least 30 minutes, by hand. We bring the dough over our heads and slap it on to counter and repeat. It kind of tires you out, but the final outcome is perfect. We made two different breads. The first was the traditional French baguette that you can buy for less than a euro in most bakeries. Mine was perfect, according to the chef, pointed end and everything. The second type of bread we made was sandwich bread. It was different; we cooked it in molds with covers on it. This prevented the dough from rising too much over the mold. When it was done, I turned out a perfectly square white sandwich bread. It was all very yummy. I dined on a great sandwich from my freshly baked bread.

I think one of the most exciting things about going to culinary school in France is learning how to make French bread. I know my father was excited to know I would be learning how to make the French baguette. He loves bread. We always have a baguette with dinner. Plus, bread serves as a utensil at times. You can use bread to mop up sauces and juices, use it to scoop up salad and with the leftover from dinner, in the morning make French toast!
I learned, but I still have a lot more to learn about bread baking. It all has to do with the flour. In France, they use type 55 flour. In America, we use bread flour. These two flours are very different in gluten, what gives the bread elasticity. The chef said that a great baker would be able to make great bread anywhere anytime. Hopefully, one day I will be able to do that, even using the bread flour from America. Just give it time. Bread baking is an art form, one I hope to learn more about.

It is the end of another week, almost. That means I am another week closer in coming home. Finals begin on Tuesday, with written exams. Than on March 12th, the final in practicals begin. That is when I will actually be cooking. No one really knows what to study or what to expect. Oh well. I have to buckle down this weekend and study study study. Anyone have any tips in memorizing numbers? Let me know.