Baguette can be resurrected, well, sort of
PITTSBURGH — A good and true baguette can brighten a morning instantly. We are talking about a long, thin loaf of freshly baked French bread that entices with its crackly crust and plump airy crumb.
But, wait, that’s not all.
The crust also should be smooth, gorgeously deep golden brown and have scores across the top. The crumb, which refers to the entire interior of the loaf, should be riddled with holes, slightly moist and ivory cream in color. Caramelized aroma from a sliced baguette should stop you in your tracks. Finally, the mouthfeel should bring the crust and crumb together in harmony, blending the crispness, chewiness and softness.
French law mandates a baguette should be made with only four ingredients — wheat flour, yeast, salt and water. Period. No preservatives or enhancers can be added. This means that the baguette should be consumed quickly or it will harden and go stale.
Artisan bread maker Anthony Ambeliotis said that because the baguette is long and skinny, “it does not have much crumb and so becomes harder sooner.”
Ideally a baguette should be consumed within six hours after it is baked, said Ambeliotis, a co-partner of Mediterra Bakehouse. If it is eaten within a day, it is OK — maybe even pardonable. “But if you are eating it after two or three days, you are jeopardizing the product. At that point, it is best to make crumbs or croutons from it.”
A couple of weeks ago, I bought the “perfect” baguette in hopes of having part of it with a slice of creamy Camembert for brunch and the rest as a hoagie for dinner. But neither meal happened. On Day Two, I completely forgot that I had even bought the loaf. When I pulled the baguette out of the paper bag on the third day, it was rock-hard.
I simply didn’t have the heart to toss out the $3 baguette. So I did what I usually do when I don’t turn to Google for help. I called my twin sister, Asha.
She said the baguette could be salvaged by simply holding it under running water for a few seconds and then rebaking it.
“I remember reading sometime ago that it can be done. It needed to be wrapped with aluminium foil before being placed in the oven on a low setting for a few minutes,” she said. “The article swore that the baguette would turn out as good as fresh.”
Ambeliotis was a little optimistic in his reaction. He said the bread needed to be moistened but offered a different approach. Rather than wetting the crust under running water, he suggested spritzing it with water. Next it needed to be baked directly on a rack in a preheated 350-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
His parting remark was that the baguette could be retrieved once but not repeatedly. And that it was best consumed immediately or at least within the hour.
Longtime baker Alex Sanchioli had yet another solution. He suggested moistening the bread by dunking it in a bowl of water and then placing it directly on the rack in a 400-degree for 8 minutes so that the interior could become tolerably soft and the exterior stay crisp.
I tried the methods suggested by Ambeliotis and Sanchioli. Both times I placed the bread on the center rack of a preheated oven for 8 minutes. Both methods yielded a softer crumb and crisp crust. But the texture on the whole and the aroma was not quite like the original. The baguettes also got tooth-breaking hard in about 45 minutes.
However, it gave a sense of satisfaction that I was able to bring the baguette back from the brink. And I was able to eat the bread, at least most of it anyway.