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Types of French Bread - Variétés de pain

Idiomatic French expressions

By Laura K. Lawless, About.com

There are a lot of different kinds of French bread - here are some of the most common.

gros pain
bread sold by weight

pain azyme
unleavened bread

pain béni(t)
consecrated bread

pain bis
brown bread

pain de boulanger
baker's bread

pain brié
hard-crusted, very dense bread from Normandy

pain de campagne
farmhouse bread, country bread

pain à chanter
unleavened bread

pain au chocolat
chocolate croissant

pain complet
wholewheat / wholemeal bread

pain doré
French toast

pain dur
dry bread

pain d'épices
~gingerbread

pain (de) fantaisie
bread sold by piece rather than by weight

pain frais
fresh bread

pain français (in Belgium) 
any long loaf of bread

pain de Gênes
~sponge cake with almonds

pain grillé
toast

pain de gruau
Vienna bread

pain au lait
~sweet roll / bun

pain au levain
traditionally leavened bread

pain long
any long, cylindrical bread like a baguette

pain de ménage
homemade bread

pain de mie
sandwich bread (with a thin crust)

pain mollet
type of bread roll made with milk

pain moulé
bread cooked in a pan rather than directly on the oven rack

pain parisien
long loaf of bread weighing 400 grams

pain perdu
French toast

pain polka
bread marked with squares

pain quotidien
everyday bread

pain aux raisins
~raisin Danish

pain rassis
stale bread

pain de seigle
rye bread

pain de son
bran bread

pain de sucre
sugar loaf

un petit pain
bread roll


French expressions with pain

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