Baguette de Tradition
PAINSTAKING TO PRODUCE. EASY TO FINISH
WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT
🥖 The Baguette At Its Best
Longer fermentation, more complexity, more depth.
🌾 A Signature Flour Blend
A carefully considered blend that makes this baguette distinctly Razava.
⚡ Super Crusty
This one is for those who like it crunchy.
📏 Sized to Finish
Our "demi-plus" shape is designed to be eaten while the baguette is freshest.
THE STORY
A baguette is a baguette, or so most people assume. But there are actually two predominant varieties — and the difference between them is more meaningful than it might sound.
The classic baguette, sometimes referred to as baguette ordinaire, is a city bread. Unlike French peasant breads, they're quick to bake and cool, and are designed for customers who want to be able to grab a fresh, hot loaf at any time of day. It's a daily family staple, built around freshness and speed.
The Baguette de Tradition, which is what we bake at Razava, was developed later, to bring an old-world philosophy to the baguette — longer fermentation, more complexity, more depth. Less about speed, and more about flavor and nutrition. It takes longer to make, but we believe the trade-off is worth it.
WHY WE MAKE IT
Everything we bake at Razava is guided by the same principle: that long fermentation and high hydration isn't just good for flavor — it's good for you. Given enough time and water, the natural fermentation process breaks down what your body would otherwise struggle to absorb, unlocking the nutrients and minerals locked inside the grain, and making them useful to your gut.
The Baguette de Tradition already answered to those same principles. And you don't want to mess with tradition.
FLAVOR PROFILE & CRAFT
In addition to our levain — kept young and vigorous before the final mix — we incorporate a yeasted pre-ferment known as a poolish, fermented for 8–12 hours prior to mixing. The combination of the two develops through a long vibrant fermentation into a strong, extensible dough, resulting in a balanced, digestible loaf with nuanced flavors, full of depth and complexity.
The final dough is built on a blend of high-extraction hard red spring and winter wheats (similar to a French T-65 flour) a touch of spelt, and other accent grains that give the baguette its open and tender crumb structure, and complex flavor.
We like to make our baguettes shorter and lighter than a standard classic baguette, around 16 inches long. Perfect for sharing with a friend in one sitting. The traditional baguettes allow for more freedom of shape: a little more rustic, a little sharper at the edges (careful!) with a super-crackly crust and tender open crumb.
HOW TO EAT IT
Like its classic counterpart, the Baguette de Tradition is designed to be enjoyed the day it's baked — ideally still warm. That egg-shell crackle (the French like to think of as "singing") is at its best within a few hours of baking.
Tear it apart and slather it with the best high-fat, salted butter you can find.
Layer it with ripe tomatoes, torn burrata, and flaky salt and a hefty dose of EVOO.
Slice lengthwise and layer with good tuna, dijon, cornichons, sliced tomato, and a drizzle of EVOO — a riff on the classic pan bagnat.
Pack a wheel of ripe camembert, slice some fresh tomatoes, and have a picnic in the park (don't forget the peppercorn grinder).
HOW TO STORE IT
Don't! This bread is designed to be eaten the day it's baked, ideally within a few hours. Ours is sized intentionally for one or two people to finish in a single sitting.
If you happen to have leftovers, day-old baguette makes excellent crostini or croutons.
Buy it fresh. Eat it now. Repeat tomorrow.
WHERE TO BUY IT
You can find the Baguette de Tradition Wednesday-Sunday at our bakery at 685 Grand Avenue in St. Paul; on DoorDash; on Uber Eats; or at one of our neighborhood pickup locations in North Minneapolis (Wednesday), Minnetonka (Thursday) or St. Louis Park (Friday).