The blog of cooking-ez.com

The French baguette and UNESCO


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.
11K 4.9/5 based on 22 reviews
Grade this page:

Last modified on: March 18th 2020

Keywords for this post:BaguetteFranceUnescoWorldHeritage
The French baguette and UNESCO
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
The different cooking modes
The different cooking modes
In cooking, cooking means bringing food into contact with a source of heat, to transform it: improving its taste, and sometimes its texture. This contact with the heat source can be achieved in a number of ways: these are the cooking methods, and let's take a look at the main ones.
6035 July 24th 2024
Clean your mixer easily
Clean your mixer easily
If you use a "bowl" or "blender" mixer, as opposed to a plunger, you've probably noticed that it's a bit of a hassle to clean it after use. And yet, with a simple trick, it can be done very quickly. See how here.
1,9405 June 26th 2024
Preserving egg yolks
Preserving egg yolks
If you're using only the egg whites in a recipe (such as meringues ), you'll need to store the yolks until you're ready to use them again. There's nothing very complicated about this in principle - all you have to do is chill them, but there are a few pitfalls to be avoided in practice.
2,3965 June 18th 2024
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
When you prepare a dish using an ingredient that has been preserved in fat, for example a springtime mixed salad with tuna in oil or sun-dried tomatoes, you're probably going to make a french dressing (vinaigrette) next. In that case, why not use the preserved oil from the tuna or tomatoes?
2,5395 June 5th 2024
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Nowadays, it's fairly easy to find what professionals use as piping bags, i.e. disposable or "single-use" plastic ones. They're practical, functional and inexpensive, but disposable? That's debatable...
3,9525 May 28th 2024
Other pages you may also like
Artichoke stalks
Artichoke stalks
When preparing artichokes for cooking, you may well already know that we often need to remove the first round of leaves, if they are tatty or dirty, as well as the inedible stalk. The operative word here is “remove” , rather than “cut off”.
48K4.3 October 25th 2016
A few tips for effective kneading at home
A few tips for effective kneading at home
When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.
268K 23.7 June 23th 2021
Drawing a pattern in pastry
Drawing a pattern in pastry
Often in the kitchen, in pastry-making, or in baking, we need to trace a pattern on a pastry. It's just a question of aesthetics but it has its effect after baking on a galette, pithiviers, pâté en croute (terrine in a pie crust), etc.
26K4.1 May 23th 2019
The baker always gild twice
The baker always gild twice
I've already told you about gilding, the beaten whole egg that is spread with a brush on anything that needs to brown in the oven: puff pastry, pastries, etc. and that professionals use a lot, I'm going to come back to this to clarify a bit how to do it, and give you a professional tip.
27K4.2 June 9th 2019
When should you salt?
When should you salt?
In the kitchen, we salt very frequently, almost all the time, and we must be careful because this salt can influence the texture of what you are cooking. I'm not going to talk about the amount of salt here, that's for another time, but rather about : When do you salt?
13K4.5 August 13th 2019
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page