“We can’t perform miracles”: this customer demand is infuriating bakers, stop it!
Being a baker requires nerves of steel. While the customer is king, some forget that a little common sense and empathy are more effective than demanding customers. We reveal the request that exasperates bakers, yet is heard every day.
When you work in the food industry, sales and direct contact with customers are part of the job that you have to learn to manage. However, it's not always easy, and the requests are sometimes absurd. In bakeries, in particular, certain phrases have a knack for infuriating employees.
Not only do these requests often demonstrate a lack of respect for the product and the work involved, but they can also be completely nonsensical. The number one request in this category, according to bakers themselves, is for a baguette that's not too well-done. Even worse, if the customer adds that they want it crusty, that's a combination that's enough to drive anyone mad!
While bakery professionals do their best to meet customer expectations, such demands can push them to their limits. Especially since it's bad for the consumers themselves!
Understanding bread baking
To achieve its optimal physical and gustatory characteristics, the baguette, an icon of French culinary expertise, must be baked to perfection. This implies sufficient time for the ingredients to transform and produce a crisp, resonant crust, typical of the many culinary hallmarks of a good baguette.
If some customers are afraid of getting a slightly burnt loaf of bread, it's often because their visual (and taste) cues have been gradually altered, mainly by processed food. The white baguettes found everywhere in supermarkets are made with lower-quality flour (not to mention the occasional chemical additives) and are generally undercooked (this shortens the process).
Physically, it's impossible to get a crispy baguette without baking it thoroughly. This doesn't mean overbaking; quite the opposite. It's actually highly recommended from a nutritional point of view as well.
A bread that's less healthy
Indeed, an undercooked baguette is much less digestible. Cooking transforms the structure of the starch, making it far more accessible to our body's enzymes. The industrially produced white baguette is "the worst bread for the body," explains Dr. Jimmy Mohamed on RTL radio.
The doctor explains that this leads to "bloating and gas". Even worse, the glycemic index of an undercooked baguette is much higher, causing blood sugar spikes, which are harmful to the body.
Unfortunately, the omnipresence of industrial breads and the fact that more and more people are buying this product in supermarkets or chains (which are not bakeries) contribute to altering the perception of what a real baguette is.
The next time you go to buy bread, trust your local baker and their expertise when it comes to baking a baguette. If you're worried about an overly crispy crust, choose other types of bread. Without being dogmatic, making good food choices also helps to perpetuate precious (and delicious) culinary traditions.
