[SOC] Bon appétit !

[soc@mailman.qth.net]

Bonjour Agn,

Humm, let's speak a bit abt ... fooood ! (the most prefered thema in France 
after sex & wine !)

<<
Hmm, the nutella sold here comes from Italy, not Germany.
>>

Nutella is Italian product, made by Ferrero but made a bit WW anyway. In fact, 
as far as I know, big "factories" are located in Italy, Germany & France.
You can check the following : 

http://www.nutellausa.com/history.htm
http://www.ferrero.it
http://www.ferrero.de
http://www.ferrero.fr 
The "Nutella" saga is readable at http://www.nutella.tm.fr/ , sri, in Froggy.

<<
Most of the baguettes I've seen locally are too skinny and mostly
crust. I prefer the larger size, commonly called (interestingly) the
bâtard.
>>
(bravo for the â !)

Well, we have various breads.
"baguette" : 250 gr. A baguette is abt 6-7 cm in diameter. But a bit oval 
shapped anyway !
"pain" ("bread") : 400 gr, as long as a baguette but larger in diameter (+-
10cm).
"bâtard" : medium weight btwn baguette & pain and also shorter than the "pain", 
thus the name.
They all have the same taste. Baguettes & "pain" are the one which are the most 
bought.
Besides that, you can buy the "pain de campagne" ("country bread"), which can 
be shaped as a "pain" or as an "half ball", and then we call it "boule de 
campagne" ("ball"). Weight 800 gr.
Taste is different bcoz the flour used is different. I prefer this one, tastier 
(OMHO !).
You have also "pain de son" (made with bran) and "pain de froment" (wheaten 
bread).
And each French region can also have "local" variants. I know 3-4 of them, the 
taste is almost the same as a baguette for some of them, or "pain de campagne" 
for the other one; only the shape will differ.

A baguette will get "dry" and hard within one day. A "pain" can last 2 days and 
being still eatable. A _good_ "pain de campagne" can last 4-5 days and being 
still fresh.

Hope it helps !

72!
Claude