In my continuing
pursuit of yummy bread I’ve been going through the book, Local Breads by
Daniel Leader. It’s been a fun read and an education on how serious many people
take their loaves.
I went through
the chapter about baguettes, moved on to croissants and boules and came upon a
chapter about batards. I’d never heard of batards.
The book had a
photo of a beautiful loaf of whole grain bread fatter and wider than a
baguette.
My mind went
back to a phrase I remembered from my one semester of college Shakespeare, Hamlet to be specific, in which the
Great Dane suspects his friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are laying a trap
for him and he plans his own preemptive strike.
He said
something about the sport of them being hoisted with their own petard; a petard
being some kind of bomb and they being damaged by their own explosion.
This led me to
check out the actual meaning of the word petard--thus straying ever farther
from bread making.
With a little
internet research I discovered that the word petard comes from Middle French peter,
to break wind; and petard is a modern
French word for firecracker.
Which has
nothing to do with bread.
Then I found another
site which told me some breads are named
after places, but the majority of loaves are named after their shape. Baguette translates to mean “rod,” and boule
means “ball.”
Batard can mean
either bastard or hybrid as its shape is a cross between the baguette and the
boule. Another reference said that batard in bread circles refers to an
inferior baguette, half the length and much wider. But although bread from a batard does not
have the maximum crust of the classic baguette, its fat shape and doughy middle
makes it ideal for sandwiches.
I guess I had
farted around long enough and decided to try my luck at making a batard or two
myself.
I tried the recipe for whole wheat and rye sour dough bread. It came out not bad.
So now I know
the difference between a petard and a batard and a baguette and a boule. But since the guys in my house are not fans
of crusty bread I may have to find someone who appreciates this latest creation
or buy bigger pants.
