Which came first, the ciabatta or the baguette?

Two of the best-known bread shapes, one of which we made in class today, have been around for a while... but one has been around for far less time than you think. Ciabatta is the classic Italian loaf that makes awesome sandwiches (all the yummy goodies stay trapped inside because of the crust). You can't say "baguette" without automatically thinking about a long, narrow crusty loaf of French bread. So which one do you think has been around longer??

The answer surprised me.... I was thinking for sure the baguette has been around forever; in actuality, the baguette has only been around since the 1920's! The ciabatta, on the other hand, has been around a great deal longer.

Although I miss the artistry of cakes, I love the hands-on process of baking breads... and there certainly is still some artistry involved in the shaping, cutting, and toppings of these breads. After just one class, I feel a bit brainwashed by our culture about what bread is "supposed" to look like. These artisan breads are beautiful in their "imperfections"- and they have incredible flavor! I'm probably never going to want to buy bread again! Also, interestingly enough, the US government mandates that all flours be "enriched" with nutrients, since to make flour used to make white breads, essentially all of the nutritional value is removed. There's a movement in Oregon for millers to be able to make unenriched organic flours... but ALL flours are currently required by law to be enriched.

This morning we prepped our baguettes made with poolish (a preferment that makes it possible for us to finish the bread during our class). We also made baking powder biscuits... even though they had butter in them, I gave them a try- and WOW- they are good... like really, really good! In the afternoon, we made Kaiser rolls, which are lighter in crumb texture- they don't have large holes like the baguette. In the coming weeks, we'll be making bagels, pizza dough, scones, and challah bread (just to name a few!).

Here are some pictures:

Poolish (flour, water & yeast)

Testing to see if the dough is ready to cut & bake

Chef making an "epi" bread (baguette cut like a wheat stalk)

Our finished baguettes

Inside our baguettes (great holes!)

Baking powder biscuits

Yummy, flaky layers! :)

Toppings for Kaiser rolls: poppyseed (blue/gray), wasabi sesame (green), and sesame (white)

Trays of Kaiser rolls ready to proof (the white things on the table are the stamps that make the starfish shape)

Finished Kaiser roll

A beautiful, soft crumb :)

As one of my group mates said today near the end of class... "I'm all breaded-out"... I came home and wanted to eat mounds of vegetables, fruit or protein. I settled on a dish of my mango sorbet and called it a night. ;)