[Chocolate Orange Bread]
I bought this loaf of bread at the BoulangEpicier the other day. I’ve mentioned that store before, and it continues to be a favorite of mine : whenever I’m in the area I make sure to stop there, to buy some bread or grab one of their pricy but mind-blowing sandwiches.
I have also adroitly albeit heavily hinted at my neighbor Patricia, who works close by, that it was really perfectly okay to surprise me with a little something from Be every now and then. This has already won me a loaf of fig bread, one of a life-altering walnut bread, a little visitandine (a financier-like almond cake, named after the nuns who belong to the order of Visitation Ste-Marie), and a chocolate chip cookie. Good yield, no? Fine neighbor, too!
Back to the chocolate orange bread : I was, as is my habit, studying the list of “pains spéciaux“, looking at the loaves behind the counter to make out which was which, and more importantly, trying to decide what to choose, all the while dodging the other impatient and stuffy customers : upscale store + posh neighborhood = snotty patrons.
I spotted this bread and asked the salesgirl about it : she explained that it was a loaf of baguette-like bread, with dark chocolate chips and little pieces of orange rind inside. Why hadn’t anyone had this luminous idea before? Why wasn’t this a staple in every boulangerie? Why had that lady stepped on my toe, twice, without batting an eyelash? Why was her poodle’s haircut more elaborate than mine? I bought myself a loaf of chocolate orange bread to spite her.
The next morning, I simply cut a couple of slices from the loaf, toasted them, and ate them warm, as is, without any spread, to fully enjoy the texture of the bread and its nuggets of flavor.
This, I daresay, is what they serve for breakfast in heaven.
