MARK: We're making a ham and cheese sandwich that we call the Jambon Beurre.

But of course, it starts with the baguette, which is our signature bread.

And you and I will shape it.

SETH: Oh, I get to be part of this operation?

MARK: Oh yes, you do.

We're going to put just a little bit of flour on the bench.

This was made from what we call a yeasted poolish.

You're going to turn it over like this and pull it out, so that it's more or less even, pat it down a little bit.

And then, we're going to turn a piece of the dough over, push it down, and then, we're going to turn the other side and push it down.

And then, we're going to do the same thing on the other side.

You can use your fingers or you can use the side of your hand.

We're folding the dough and evening the dough a lot, so that the baguette will be even and pretty.

SETH: Well, yours is already a lot prettier than mine.

MARK: Okay, well, we'll do it again.

So now, we're ready to fold the top onto the bottom.

Again, push it down, push it down like that.

So we'll do it one more time if you just take a little bit of flour and put it on your hands like that.

SETH: All right.

It's going to be on my hands and probably on my shirt by the time that we're all done.

MARK: Probably.

That's why we wear aprons.

Now, you turn it over and you bang it down, closing up the dough.

Now, we have the top.

Yours is not quite closed.

SETH: Quite sealed up yet.

MARK: We'll close it like that.

SETH: Thank you, sir.

MARK: And now, we'll roll it gently, adding a little bit of additional pressure as we reach the ends.

Then turn it over again.

And this time, you'll add a lot of pressure in order to make the ends come together in a tiny leg.

SETH: You want that little nub right on the end of the baguette?

MARK: Yes.

Okay, now that's good.

We'll do it again.

SETH: This is a shape that, to me, approximates a baguette.

MARK: It does.

And then, we put it on what we call the couche.

You want to do another one?

SETH: Let's do one more.

Why not?

MARK: Okay, pat it down.

(music plays over background inaudible chatter) So I'm going to pull this over like that, and I'm going to cover it, so that it doesn't dry.

And we're going to allow it to proof.

I'm going to take these to the loader, where Tricia, one of our crack baking staff, is scoring baguettes.

SETH: Hi, Tricia.

TRICIA: Hi.

MARK: When she bakes the bread, she will inject steam into the oven and the steam softens the surface of the baguettes.

It also defers the forming of a crust until the baguette is fully expanded.

SETH: And Tricia, what does this scoring do as well?

TRICIA: As the bread bakes, the scoring allows it to rise without causing any cracks.

Because if there is nowhere for the dough to move, then it's just going to rip.

SETH: All right, so how do these baguettes get into this incredible oven over here?

TRICIA: Well, I'm going to push this loader through, MARK: Knocks the window down.

TRICIA: As I pull back, the baguettes will fall onto the deck oven.

Then I'm going to close the door, hit these two buttons.

MARK: Steam.

Hear it?

(steam pressure releases) SETH: Ooh, I hear it and I feel it.

TRICIA: Yes.

All right, Seth, now, we're going to load the next 10, so that they bake evenly.

SETH: So Mark, what kind of a team have you trained up here?

MARK: A very good one.

It's been common in smaller bakeries and smaller food establishments for there to be a lot of turnover.

We don't really have a lot of turnover, which is wonderful.

SETH: And how many baguettes are you making in a typical week here?

MARK: On a bad day, we make maybe 600 baguettes.

On a busy day, we make essentially 800.

We don't make our baguettes in a machine.

We make them all by hand.

SETH: It's an artisan product.

You need artisans... MARK: It is an artisan product.

SETH: To do the work.

TRICIA: So now, I'm going to move this loader down this way... SETH: Oh, watch out.

TRICIA: And I'm going to load in this side... close the door.

I'm going to hit the start button.

It'll steam it again and start the timer for us.

So these bake for 25 minutes, and then, when there's eight minutes left, I will rotate the baguettes.

Once those last eight minutes are done, then I'll take them out and put them on the rack to cool.

MARK: We've done our baking.

Tricia did a great job.

SETH: She sure did.

MARK: And this is one that you made, and you can have it to take home.

SETH: Not quite ready for prime time just yet?

MARK: Not quite ready.

SETH: All right.

I'll take that for later.

MARK: All I'm going to do is cut into the baguette right down the center.

SETH: Oh wow.

MARK: I hope you can see all these wonderful irregular holes.

So then, I'm going to take softened butter.

I'm not being stingy, but I'm not overdoing it.

SETH: There's never any overdoing it when it comes to butter, right?

MARK: Not if it's good butter.

There's no point in using an ingredient that's anything less than wonderful.

We want to have a little bit of mustard, not too much.

That's all.

SETH: Just a smidgen.

MARK: Just a smidgen.

When I use the ham, we keep piling up the ham, and then I take some Gruyere cheese and I go right down the center of it.

SETH: Right down Broadway.

MARK: Right down Broadway.

And that's it.

That's all there is to this sandwich, ham, cheese, butter.

SETH: And of course, a great baguette.

MARK: And of course, a great baguette.

We cut it in fourths.

Here, you should try this.

The bread is so important.