32 million: that's how many baguettes are consumed every day in France! Its crispy crust and soft, honeycombed crumb make this long loaf of bread with simple ingredients an essential part of French people's lives. It's very typical that they love to start eating it as they leave the bakery.
If they don't have bread, let them eat brioche!
Even if the last Queen of France never uttered this famous sentence, it has the merit of illustrating the importance of bread in the history of France: the increase of its price (following a shortage of cereals) indeed contributed to the French Revolution of 1789, when 90% of the population consumed 1 kilo per day.
After the fall of the monarchy, its price became fixed and its composition - wheat, rye and bran - identical for all citizens, whereas previously the aristocrats and bourgeois consumed white bread (made of "fleur de farine") and the poor consumed grey or black bread.
This "Pain Égalité" (Equality Bread), which all bakers had to knead under penalty of imprisonment, had then a round and imposing shape of loaf that, according to the legend, Napoleon asked to rework for his soldiers. It was indeed easier to transport and consume a refined and light product during its various expeditions in Europe.
However, it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that this elongated bread (about 50 cm) took the name of baguette. Its success was then boosted by... the construction of the subway! So that the workers, who were often in conflict because of their different origins, no longer needed to use their knives to cut the loaves into slices, this bread, which could be easily detached by hand, was chosen by the engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe.
After the entry of the French gastronomic meal to the intangible heritage of humanity in November 2010, the baguette was also recognized in November 2022 as another key component of French culture. Preferred to the zinc roof (so typical of Parisian buildings) and in competition with a hundred other intangible cultural heritages, the baguette was in particular in competition with the Belgian fries, another example of a food symbolizing a country and its culture. Cock-a-doodle-doo!
In the meantime, this product made from 4 simple ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast or sourdough) will continue to punctuate the daily life of the French who, every year, share the 6 billion baguettes (320 per second!) produced. By the way, for the anecdote: it is this action, sharing the bread with someone, which gave birth to the term "copain" (friend).
You are one of the 12 million people who leave a bakery every day with this bread that has become an emblem of France in the world and you would like to start making your own? Learn how to knead, shape and bake it to perfection with a sourdough bread expert during this baking workshop.
Valérie from Comme des Français
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