Whats the difference between French bread and Italian bread?
Actually, there is no difference in the recipe between the two breads (most white breads are basically the same.) The difference comes in the shape of the breads. Italian breads tend to be a more oval loaf, long and fat. Classic French breads tend to be long and skinny. Both have a crusty hard outside and soft moist inside – which is achieved by gently misting the loaves as they are baking with water (I do this with a small spray bottle every 10 to 15 minutes.) That said – some French bread recipes call for milk or powdered dry milk in the recipe, and I have not seen a recipe calling for milk in an Italian bread recipe – but I have made my French bread both with the milk and without and can attest that there is almost no difference between the two.
