December 7, 2013 - 9:10am
pain chemin de fer
Does anyone know what is in this bread (type of flour, type of leavan, ect.) and how it is shaped?
Cheers,
Wingnut
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Does anyone know what is in this bread (type of flour, type of leavan, ect.) and how it is shaped?
Cheers,
Wingnut
Where did you see this? It could be bread made on railway trains, or some sort of sourdough made by the builders of the railway.
It's on an old poster I saw online. I was looking around for a poster of breads to hang on my wall and for some reason Pain Chemin de fer (railroad bread) caught my eye. I can't quite make out the shape or depth of the bread from the poster. I don't know if it is pumpernickle, or dark rye or just a dark bake.
wingnut
Yes that is the poster, number 48 is the one, but I am still the same place.
Wingnut
a thanks for posting the picture you did not...?
Well sure mate, thanks.
Cheers
Wingnut
I don't think it was a French invention, but covered Pain de mie pans were invented originally for railroad galleys. Is it possible this is what "railroad bread" is?
David G
The Lionel Poilane website would be a good place to inquire.
...the poster, it looks as if it has tracks on the top, but that's probably me being fanciful. Whole wheat, possibly?
...at the Patisserie de la gare up the road in the morning. They might know.
Cheers Paddy
WIngnut
It looks like it is form around the region of Lyon.
Cheers,
Wingnut
After looking around on Google for a while, I couldn't find any one recipe or reference to 1 type of bread. There is a book that is frequently referenced and that is a cookbook from the Canadian Pacific Railroad 1920's. It looks like many recipes are named as "cake","rolls" "eggs" "salad" and then "chemin de fer" so I assume these are what was prepared and served in the dining car when you road the train cross country. So there may be as many recipes and shapes for "pain chemin de fer" as there are railroads across the world.
I am making a lot of assumptions based on a few hours of google research so I could be wrong but that is how it appears to me right now. Fascinating!
Agreed, but I would imagine the ingredients would be about the same. Unless the shape is the only thing consistent and the ingredients change because the train travels through differnt regions. Most curious.
Cheers,
Wingnut
I've thrown the question out at the Patisserie where they have a baker from France; they will ask him and let me know.
Cheers Paddy
Wingnut