What is the difference between the long loaves of Italian bread and the long loaves of French bread?

Question

** do they both have sourdough starters ?

I have a nice recipe from the Italian Food Forever website for the long Italian bread that is started with a 'biga' for a starter, left overnight, but I don't know if it is typical

** p.s. what is a baguette?

thank you

Answer 1

Snow is confused. Okay, just down right wrong.

French bread is a thinner, longer, thin crusted dough made from flour, water, yeast, and salt.
Italian bread is a wider, shorter, thick crusted loaf, sometimes made with semolina flour. And baked in a steam injected oven. Often dusted with sesame seed.
A baguette is a loaf of bread, often French.

Answer 2

In response to one of your other answers: I won't quibble with the oil/no oil distinction between French and Italian bread, although I agree that in most cases, for the bread you get from a supermarket it's the same dough.

Adding fat does not create a chewy crumb (the non-crust part of the bread). It creates a soft or tender crumb. The formation of gluten, the chewy component of bread's structure, is inhibited by the presence of fats. Fat also serves as a preservative of sorts, allowing bread to seem moist for longer after it is baked.

And a baguette does not have a 'dry' crumb. It should be chewy and toothsome. This is in part a function of the use of flour from hard, winter wheat (which has more gluten), in part due to a wetter dough.

The characteristic chewy, crusty crust of baguettes actually comes from the injection of steam into the oven when they are baking.

Answer 3

You might want to Invest into a good Bread Cookbook...
as I see your question is That most Itialin is somewhat a sour dough bread
And French more the softer and sweet bread..
The Baguette a smaler 6 - 8 IN french bread for sanwhiches'...

Answer 4

At grocery stores near Pittsburgh, French bread & Italian bread are diffent shapes of the same baked dough.

Answer 5

one is italian and one is french. A baguette is french bread. Same bread different type. Italian is bigger and wider then french bread. French bread us usually baked until the outside is crusty

Answer 6

itaian bread contains some kind of fat butter, olive oil this fat gives the bread a soft crumb and chewy texture. French bread has no fat and has dry hard crumb and light soft texture. A baguette is the long skinny loaf of typtic french bread.