As a kid bread used to mean symmetrical square slices of white bread to me - I didn’t know any better. It was just seen as a carrier for the better things in life, like meat and spreads. Nowadays, artisanal breads are giving the white loaf a run for their money, with so many bakeries popping up in our city providing us with lovely bread varieties. The best part is the availability in both independent food shops and the big chain grocery stores. As I enjoy doing product comparisons, I did a head-to-head among several baguettes in town to see who can live up to the “Parisienne standard” of the ideal baguette. This was a dream for my husband (a big bread snob), as that meant he could devour artisanal bread galore for several days sequentially.

Before delving into the product results, here is some background information of this crusty dinner companion. A standard baguette is only made with flour, yeast and salt, as per the French laws. I came across David Leibowitz’s blog, a chef and cookbook author based in Paris, and he noted some key characteristics that an ideal baguette should have:

1. Large irregular holes and uneven colouration on the exterior due to being baked by an actual person, rather than stuffed into a machine
2. Pale-ivory coloured interior that should be chewy and “light-but tough” to the bite
3. “apricot-like aroma” – something I never thought of, but interesting, no?

We tried five different white baguettes, all without spreads or meats to make it fair that we were judging the bread itself and not what’s on it. This makes me foresee that I will have probably missed several of TasteTO readers and writers favourites, so please send in your tips!

First up was a pioneer of the artisanal bread movement in Toronto, Ace Bakery. This was usually a good choice for us to fall back on, and is convenient to pick up as it is widely distributed. Unfortunately, I purchased a bad one this time around. Perhaps it was the moisture in the air that night, but the bread was much chewier than I was used to, and the crust did not have much of the crispness that is synonymous with baguettes. Since this was the first time I had a bad experience with Ace, I would try them again.Next on the list was Italian Home Bakery (available in many outlets including Rabba Fine Foods), which tasted more like an Italian bread loaf disguised as a baguette. It was very crusty (maybe even too crusty), as I had crumbs flying everywhere while cutting it. The centre was soft and much too light, thereby leaving me with a feeling of disappointment after trying their version.

Epi Breads (1526 Bayview Avenue, also available at Leslieville Cheese Market) states that their breads are made the “traditional way”, and are baked daily in a European-style stone hearth oven. Does this make a difference? I must concur that it does. Their offering did have the “apricot-ike aroma”, as mentioned above, in addition to a crunchy, crisp crust and a lightly salted interior. This was by far my favourite, very worthy of eating on its own or dunking in soup. However, my husband could not decide between this one or the one from Bonjour Brioche (812 Queen Street East). It was a tad softer in texture than Epi Breads’ version, but still had the crisp crunchy exterior. There were slightly saltier notes to it than in the other four baguettes sampled, a contributing factor to my husband’s overall satisfaction of it.

President’s Choice (available at Loblaws and Valu-Mart outlets) also got into the baguette action (recall the TV adverts about getting Parisiennes to try it?), and they did a great job while at it. Yes, even we were surprised, and would rate its taste and texture almost up to par with our favourites.

I’ve heard that our city’s artisanal breads cannot compete with what people in Vancouver or Montreal can get – I beg to differ! I can never go back to eating regular sliced bread anymore, now that I am spoiled with the wealth of baguettes (and more) Toronto has to offer.