1,597 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 77 videos

The French baguette and UNESCO

As you may have already read here or there, France has initiated for some time the procedure to try to have the French baguette classified as an intangible world heritage by UNESCO.

When you put it like that, it sounds a bit namby-pamby, and it would be tempting to imagine an American (for example) sniggering at those Frenchies and their damn baguette that they love so much.

But it's not as simplistic as that, because for us French, the relationship with bread is very particular.

16 K 4.9/5 (22 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Baguette France Unesco World Heritage

Last modified on: March 18^th 2020

For this post Comments Lasts posts Follow

For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend

First of all, and even if we are used to it, let's not forget that bread is the cornerstone of our diet, even if its consumption has been steadily decreasing for years, it still remains something very important for us, on a daily basis. To be convinced of this, we need only look at the astonishing number of expressions in French that refer to bread: "Manger son pain blanc", "Lui faire passer le gout du pain", "Du pain sur la planche"... etc.

Then our bread, or rather our breads, have an almost unique specificity in the world, it is that they are crispy. We all appreciate a warm bread that comes out of the oven, and that crunches when you cut it or eat it, it doesn't look like much but it's typically French. It's a delight of texture, but also of taste because 80% of the taste of the bread is in the crust. And if you have travelled outside of France, you will have noticed, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, the poor quality of breads, let's say "crumb bread", under plastic, their frightening composition, and their almost total absence of taste, associated with their suspicious elasticity after 3 weeks in the cupboard.

la baguette un cliché français

The baguette is even more French, almost Parisian it must be admitted, this long and thin bread, golden and crispy, with a very short shelf life (6h max) that we buy every day, or even several times a day, we are the only ones in the world to do that, and we do it a lot: 32 million baguettes are sold in France every day. So there is no need to specify "French baguette", because a baguette is only French.

It is however very simple as a recipe: water + flour + salt + leaven + a drop of yeast, but all the talent of the baker comes afterwards: long fermentation, short kneading, quality of the products, careful cooking, to finally obtain an exceptional product.

baguette française

I had already mentioned in a previous post that there was baguette and baguette, and that it was necessary at all costs (yes, well, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it's a subject that touches me a lot) to prefer the "traditional" baguette, if possible well baked, because it's so much better for the taste and also for the health.

All this to tell you, that no, this classification request is not a baker's whim, we are indeed with the baguette on a real French specificity, which deserves to be distinguished.

And then, oh, the Neapolitans have already obtained it for the pizza ;-)...

To sum up: The French baguette classified as a UNESCO world heritage site? But of course, what a fair recognition of a so french product !

Lasts posts

With vinegar?

When you buy a jar of pickles labeled “in vinegar,” you’re looking for their tangy, crunchy flavor to go with cold cuts, sandwiches, or salads. You expect to find small gherkins preserved in vinegar, with salt and herbs, but is that really the case?
July 15^th 20261,5704.8

Congratulate the chef

You've just finished a meal that you really enjoyed. The server approaches with the usual question: “How was it?” And then, as a natural reflex, you simply reply, “Yes, it was very good.” However, when the meal was truly outstanding, this brief exchange deserves a little more. .
July 7^th 20261,026 25

Cut twice as fast

When you need to cut something long into small pieces, for example chopped chives or the stem of a spring onion, there's a simple gesture that doubles your cutting speed. Let's see how.
May 21^th 20262,4285

The other use for bowl scraper

Your kitchen or bakery utensils may include a horn (left) or a pastry cutter (right). These practical utensils are normally used to scoop the contents of a bowl or salad bowl - the horn - or to cut dough - the pastry cutter. But they also have another, very practical use - let's see what it is.
May 9^th 20262,1713

The strange foam of potatoes in milk

As you may have already noticed, when you cook potatoes in milk, especially in small pieces (slices or cubes) for a gratin for example, a surprisingly abundant white foam forms on the surface. Where does it come from?
April 26^th 20262,5235

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?

This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7^th 2017137 K 14.2

The Holy Grail of French bakers

While browsing through the recipes on this site, you may have noticed that while I adore cooking (everything, in fact, to do with eating and drinking), I am particularly drawn to bakery: bread, viennoiseries and all that goes with them – it’s a real passion of mine; I love making them and I...
March 24^th 201822 K 34.7

Salt and yeast

Let's take a look at an old baker's legend: You may have already read that somewhere in a recipe that uses baker's yeast(bread, pastries, leavened doughs in general) it is often specified "Don't put salt in contact with the yeast, you'll kill it (the yeast)"! Well, that's a belief, and there are...
March 15^th 201976 K4.3

The proper use of a dusting machine

Let's take a look at a simple gesture, the sprinkling, that is to say to distribute a fine powder (icing sugar, sugar, flour,...) on a surface. If you have to sprinkle something, you may use a sprinkler or "poudrette" (in french) it is a very simple utensil, a box, with a lid pierced with holes...
July 31^th 201913 K4.6

Cleaning endives

If you buy your endives elsewhere than in supermarkets, and in this case the best is of course from a market gardener, he or she is the one who planted and harvested them, in this case you will have endives full of earth or sand, depending on where they were grown, which is normal and reassuring, we...
March 24^th 202029 K4.6