Foodies in France should waste no time in high-tailing it to a boulangerie, the prime place to sink your teeth into its most emblematic offering: le croissant. Now, everyone loves a croissant (and with damn good reason), but once you’ve brushed away those tell-tale flakes, it really does pay to investigate some of the other offerings lining the shelves of the display cases, as you’ll find no shortage of equally delicious offerings. Here are six standouts that’ll make you glad you cheated on your croissant.
Baguette de tradition
Rise up for the prized baguette de tradition from Boulangerie Utopie
In most bakeries in Paris, you’ll see two baguettes for sale: a classic, ordinary baguette and the baguette de tradition. No additives or preservatives are allowed in this loaf, which, contrary to ordinary baguettes, must be made on-site and by hand. It’ll usually cost between 20 and 40 centimes more than the classic, but it’s well worth it for its crispier exterior and airier, almost creamy crumb.
Find the best at… Boulangerie Utopie, where head baker Xavier Netry scooped a heralded annual award for the best baguette in Paris, dished out by the important-sounding Syndicat des Boulangers-Pâtissiers du Grand Paris. Xavier’s crusty loaf was bolstered by the lactic flavour of sourdough, and clearly impressed the judges.
Chouquettes
Vanilla chouquettes from Yann Couvreur / Image: Courtesy of Yann Couvreur
Choux pastry is omnipresent in French bakeries, as the envelope for pastry-cream filled éclairs and the base of cheesy gougères. But don’t miss the simplest iteration of this eggy dough: unfilled, bite-sized chouquettes are topped simply with pearl sugar, resulting in barely-sweet, moreish morsels – although you will encounter fantastically filled versions, too.
Find the best at… Yann Couvreur, where the lily is gilded with a touch of orange blossom water.
Almond croissant
Given sweet new life: the almond croissant from Sain Boulangerie / Image: SAIN Boulangerie, Anthony Courteille
In stark contrast with more pristine patisseries, almond croissants in Paris have a slightly squashed countenance, a result of their origins as potential food waste. To make them, day-old viennoiseries (baked goods enjoyed at breakfast, often made with an enriched dough) are split, brushed with sugar syrup and filled with almond paste. Rebaked and dusted with icing sugar, they’re ready to enjoy.
Find the best at… Sain Boulangerie, where a sourdough base and a crunchy, slivered almond topping adds even more depth to this sweet offering.
Jambon-beurre
Filled to bursting: jambon-beurre at La Parisienne / Image: Emily Monaco
Bakeries are the perfect place in Paris for a quick and easy lunch – and amidst the quiches and salads, perhaps the most prototypical offering is the sandwich known as either le jambon-beurre or le Parisien. As simple as the sum of its parts, this sandwich sees a split length of baguette generously buttered and laid with Paris ham, an unsmoked ham cooked in a savoury brine, first invented in the city’s now-defunct Les Halles market.
Find the best at… La Parisienne, a former winner of the award for best baguette in Paris, and a venue where each sandwich seems more generously filled than the next.
Flan Parisien
A truly hefty slab of Flan Parisien from Des Gâteaux et du Pain / Image: Emily Monaco
While Parisian flan shares some similarities with its Spanish cousin, it stands out in its portability. Indeed, while the Iberian iteration is jiggly and caramel-soaked, making it far easier to eat with a spoon, the Parisian version sees a fairly set custard baked in a deep pie crust, all the better for sinking your teeth into while on the move.
Find the best at… Des Gâteaux et du Pain, where pastry chef Claire Damon infuses the custard not with typical vanilla, but rather with sweet vernal grass, for a lovely herbaceous note.
Chausson aux pommes
A peek inside a tasty chausson aux pommes from Cyril Lignac / Image: Emily Monaco
Chausson aux pommes may be the underdog of the viennoiserie case, a puff pastry turnover whose name literally translates to apple slipper. Inside the buttery, golden pastry, you’ll typically find a vanilla-flecked applesauce, though some bakeries choose instead to encase sliced apples or even a whole or halved fruit, giving you major baked apple vibes.
Find the best at… Cyril Lignac, where the tart apple filling generously speckled with vanilla seeds is the perfect foil for a caramelised pastry base that took a page right out of the crème brûlée handbook.
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