Tuesday, March 3, 2009

A Taste of France: Light Breakfast

A French breakfast is a great way to start off the day, with a light, but filling meal. Breakfast is a meal that is the same in every part of France. The French never eat any heavy foods in the morning like sausages or pancakes, only baguettes (bread), crepes, fruit, coffee, hot chocolate, or yogurt. Most popular type of breakfast is having baguettes with butter or jam and some fresh hot coffee or chocolate. Baguettes are made of a lean dough with crispy crust that is baked in a deck oven, which is a combination of a brick and gas oven. This type of oven gives baguettes its light texture. In France, baguettes taste very plain because their laws state you can only add yeast, water, salt, and flour to bread. For breakfast, baguettes are usually dipped in coffee or hot chocolate to give it more flavor. You can buy baguettes at any local supermarket or bakery, but make sure to check that the crust is a dark caramel color with small irregular air holes. When ordering coffee there are many different types: cafe (plain coffee), cafe au lait (coffee with steamed milk), cafe creme (coffee with hot cream), and cafe noisette (espresso with cream). French coffee has a stronger taste than other coffees around the world, because they use a french press, which keeps the coffee grounds with the water. This stronger flavor is also seen in hot chocolate, because the French never use powdered chocolate, only chocolate that has a high percentage of cacao and warm milk to give a creamier taste. Chocolate in France has lots of rich flavor and is slightly bittersweet, not like milk chocolate that most people eat. Hot chocolate is served with water to offset the rich flavor. Here's a recipe to make your own chocolat chaud:

Ingredients


1 ½ cups whole milk
2 ½ Tbsp. water
2 ½ Tbsp. granulated sugar
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, water, and sugar.
Place over medium heat and whisk occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.
Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture just to a boil.
Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the chocolate.
At this point, blend the mixture.
If you have an immersion blender, you can do this directly in the saucepan; if not, you’ll need to transfer it to a traditional blender.
Either way, blend for 1 minute (on high speed, if using a traditional blender ).
The finished mixture should be very smooth and frothy.
Serves for 2 people.
Dip in bread if you want. Bon appetit!


sources: http://lafujimama.blogspot.com/2008/11/chocolat-chaud-hot-chocolate-french-way.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baguette

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