I assumed that the woman in the bakery this evening was just correcting a mistake in the name of the bread I wanted (a common occurence, given the variation in some types of French bread is very slight, occasionally only discernible to the baker themselves, seems to me) when I tried to order a baguette à la tradition this evening.
"No,no, Madame, this is the Emperor's baguette," she says, somewhat dramatically.
"Ah, I'm sorry." It looks like a baguette à la tradition to me. "I'll take it anyway."
She duly wraps it in a special blue Emperor's Baguette bag - at which point I notice the corresponding sash the poor woman is having to wear. I pay whatever extortionate price a baguette à la tradition with extra fancy naming commands (€1.20, if you're really interested) and take my freshly baked, warm baguette and wait for my change.
She produces, declaiming dramatically into the cupboard under the counter, a spoon. Apparently, if one is to eat the Emperor's Baguette, one must have jam. And if one is having jam, one must have a jam spoon. Et voilà. I am now the proud owner of a jam spoon. And an Emperor's Baguette to have with dinner. (Chorizo, white bean and tomato stew, in case you're interested. I knew you would be.)
Pictures, just because it entertains me greatly, and this is my blog:
I don't think I've seen that baguette at one of our local (banlieue) boulangeries. Much less with the spoon included!! And that is a cute spoon.
ReplyDeleteAlysen
I think she just had Uri Geller round for lunch and she was stuck on what to do with a load of bent spoons. Either that or she just bought some new cheapo ones from Ikea and found out they're crap at brew making :) x
ReplyDeleteShe's French, she prob doesn't make tea... (Hello, by the way - how did you find my blog?)
ReplyDeleteAlysen, you're clearly missing out; I would demand Emperor's baguette, if I were you. If you actually get barred from your boulangerie as a result, I take no responsibility (but would love to hear about it, for my own amusement...)