Whether you think French cuisine is passé or yields the most delicious bites, one thing is certain, the French know how to make extraordinary bread. Now, the Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts in Paris, a cooking and hospitality school Le Monde dubbed, “The Harvard of Gastronomy,” has released French Boulangerie, a hefty cookbook that may become the best baker’s manual around.
Distributed by Rizzoli in the United States and published in English by Editions Flammarion, Paris, the cookbook is the sixth in a series of illustrated manuals that include French Pâtisserie; Chocolate; Fruits & Nuts; Vegetables and Charcuterie, Pâtés, Terrines, Savory Pies. The next title in the series will be centered around meat.
“The pillars of our in-house English department,” said Kate Mascaro, Editorial Director, Illustrated Books in English at Flammarion, “are rooted in the terroir of traditional French gastronomy, but also in modern French cooking, meaning how diners want to eat today.”
While the general public may be more familiar with the Cordon Bleu school in Paris thanks to its beloved alum, Julia Child, Ferrandi has been around for more than a hundred years and occupies two blocks, steps away from the famous Lutetia Palace in the sixth arrondissement. According to Todd Schulkin, Executive Director of The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, Julia may have followed fellow American colleagues and servicemen who attended Cordon Bleu in the early Fifties for its semi-professional training courses.
Founded in 1920, Ferrandi strives to prepare young people from all over the world for the professional field, but also offers continuing education for adults. A non-profit organization, it features all-level classes, from a French language apprenticeship to bilingual or English language Bachelor and Master degrees. Out of 4500 students who attend Ferrandi in one given year, approximately 500 international students follow the continuing education classes, divided into introduction, intensive, and advanced levels. A series of monthly podcasts (in French) entitled ‘A Demain,’ meaning ‘see you tomorrow’ cover themes that range from the evolution of taste to food criticism in the time of social media and the future of mocktails. Since January, courses in English can be found on the Future Learn platform.
Books and courses offer basic techniques and precise advice, in addition to recipes.
“What makes these books unique,” said Richard Ginioux, Ferrandi Paris’ Executive Director, “is that they emerge from a school environment, which means that photos, illustrations, and recipes are chosen and described for pedagogical transmission only.”
There are about a hundred and twenty events or competitions at the school per year, including master classes in various cuisines taught by international chefs. “Seasonality is on everybody’s mind these days,” said Mr. Ginioux.” It’s forbidden to bake a strawberry tart in December!”
With stunning photography by Rina Nurra, French Boulangerie focuses first on bread and its ingredients, from flour to gluten to salt, but also covers viennoiseries, which the Larousse Gastronomique defines as ‘bakery products other than bread.’ There are twelve pages on puff pastry and eighteen pages on brioches! Specialty breads and sandwiches make up the other categories: all in all, eighty-three sweet and savory recipes including vegetarian, gluten-free, and vegan options.
Throughout the book, the process of fermentation is ever present and explained in detail. Photos of equipment including a flour bench brush, a dough docker, and a kougelhopf mold can be found in the early pages. Not all the recipes emerge from the French repertoire though: paninis, pita breads, pizza, and even bagels have their place in the volume. Now that the homemade sourdough trend has abated, this new cookbook could reignite bread bakers’ appetite!