The Reason Bread Tastes So Much Better In France

French gastronomy is characterized by two things: Good wine, and even better bread. It's why there's a bakery on virtually every corner of Paris, and why you see so many French people walking with a baguette peeking out of their bags. Bread is an intrinsic part of everyday life in France — so much so that UNESCO gave the baguette World Heritage status in 2022, an act symbolic of the specific knowledge and techniques that go into baking it. But, that's not a sentiment reserved to the baguette. In fact, the reason why bread tastes so much better in France is because of French bakers' attention to the care and quality of everything they bake.

Given that bread is such an integral part of French culture and life, it's held to high standard — and that goes for the people, the bakers, and the law. One of the reasons the bread you get at bakeries in France tastes so much better is that, according to French law, a business cannot call itself a boulangerie (the French word for bakery) if the dough and bread aren't made in the same location. That simple fact means the bread is always freshly made on site, and it's made even better by the sheer difference in quality of ingredients and the care that goes into them.

A good French bread recipe begins with what you put into it. However, those ingredients are also elevated by the bakers' own attention to detail and care — that's where you taste the difference.

The French hold the quality of all of their food to a high degree. But it's likely that no other item on the table is held to higher standards than the bread. French bakers not only understand this passion, but they share it and uphold it through their baking practices. Every loaf of French bread starts, first and foremost, with a quality, French flour. French flour is milled with a lower ash content, meaning it has more of the grain and fewer extra ingredients. The ash content literally shows how much other material is present in flour, and is measured by burning it and assessing the leftover ash. A low ash content means better flour.

French bread can be made with all types of flour, but when it comes to the ash content, it's the reason why it comes out so much fluffier, tastier, and all around more heart warming, then what you get at home. After that comes the yeast starter, which French bakers always pay special attention to. By caring for their starters for long periods of time, the dough is able to ferment and they're able to make bread as tasty as possible.

French bakers attend to the fermentation process very closely, and while the exact details vary from one baker to the other, a levain starter is most often used to make French bread and pastries. From there, the bakers simply treat their dough with expert care — folding and kneading it gently, so as to create and maintain its delicate texture. All of these elements come together to create the difference you can taste in French bread.