The presence of some charming little girls during our weekend away reminded me of just how much time must be spent feeding tiny ones. In France, when it comes to children's tea time or goûter, old traditions die hard, and the most popular end of school-day treat is still the pain au chocolat. Puff pastry rolled up around two sticks of dark chocolate.
Bakers make sure that the pains au chocolat emerge hot from the oven at the same time as children get out of school. The fragrance wafts down the street and is hard to resist. 80 centimes will buy you a warm pain au chocolat wrapped in a simple square of thin paper.
Mothers who don't manage to get to a bakers before picking up their children, often make it even more simple: a couple of squares of good quality chocolate folded inside a piece of baguette. A delicious goûter, with no unhealthy additives.
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My own goûter has lately been just the chocolate, with some tea. Delectable!
ReplyDeleteYum those are delicious and sometimes I heat one in the microwave, for just a few seconds, to melt the chocolate a bit.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost glad they are not readily available in the U.S. (altho Au Bon Pain carries them!) because I would just eat and eat and eat. I want to lick the screen, but will refrain!
ReplyDeleteNever mind children, it's the favourite pastry of my husband's. While we were in France, he had pains au chocolat everyday.
ReplyDeleteI can just imagine chocolate wafting down the street! I would certainly be joining my children for their tea!
ReplyDeleteXO,
Jane
delicious! delightful! heaven!
ReplyDeletei didn't realize how simple a pain au chocolat is. i'm seeing a vegan version of this in my immediate future. thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteWe used to hang out with a french family when we lived in New York. When we were there for "gouter", they would bring out the french bread and nutella. My kids thought this was the best snack ever. I should remember to do that more often. Yum.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet tradition. This is the very essence of what makes France so charming.
ReplyDeleteMy boys are Nutella fans. I make most of my own bread and they wolf it down with Nutella. This weekend I made brioche and that disappeared pretty quickly too.
ReplyDeleteA chocolate sandwich. My goodness. Heaven!
ReplyDeleteOh, I could use an pain au chocolat myself right about now....yum! xxoo :)
ReplyDeleteYour pain au chocolat pictures looks so delicious, I am tempted to grab it from my screen!
ReplyDeleteRoman children, at least in my time, snacked on a Rosetta roll (baked several times during the day, delicious dome-shaped crust with very little soft interior, but lots of space for fillings), filled with either salami or a thin square of chocolate. Grocery stores kept a stack of these ready to stick into the rosetta roll chocolate by their register. Pane e cioccolata was my favorite snack back when. ;-)
My children's favourite goûter is, and always has been: sliced cucumbers and sliced red bell peppers plus a small dish of spaghetti sauce, heated up, in which to dip fresh crusty baguette.
ReplyDeleteWe have pain choc possibly once a month, but never microwaved, always slipped into a hot oven for a few minutes to crust up the outside and melt the dark chocolate inside.
(How embarrassing, I just looked and I have 6 big jars of Nutella in my cabinet. But then, we can't have a breakfast Nutella emergency, now can we? Nutella crêpes, anyone?)
Kind regards, Kitty