The Baguette: A Brief History
What could be more French than the traditional baguette? Even if, it is said, more are consumed in Algeria, a former French colony, than in France itself. The word baguette is, amongst other things, the French expression for a wizard’s wand, a conductor’s baton and a chopstick, the quintessentially traditional French loaf of bread simply taking its name from the shape. Like most traditions, however, it is relatively modern, and its origins are lost in the mists of time. The image of the old lady with a basket and walking stick, the schoolboy with an oversized satchel on his back, the soutane-wearing priest and the agricultural labourer in blue overalls all queuing up outside the local boulangerie, one by one emerging from the interior clutching the symbolic bread. These are the most vivid and enduring images of France. The iconic loaf was famously immortalized in “Le Petit Parisien”— a photograph taken by renowned Parisian photographer, Willy Ronis, and endlessly reproduced on posters and postcards the world over.
Image | Willy Ronis
The genius of Ronis over his long career (he died in 2009 at nearly 100) was the ability to capture spontaneou scenes of street life in his home city, Paris. It seems, however, that this little image was an exception to the rule. In 1952, Ronis was sent out on to the streets of Paris to scout out shots for an article entitled “Revoir Paris” (“Re-seeing Paris”) about a Parisian living in New York returning to Paris. The piece was to highlight the idiosyncrasies of the city, notably the famous long loaf of bread.
Ronis hung around a neighbourhood boulangerie until he spotted this little boy with his grandmother waiting their turn in the queue, and he asked her if he could photograph the boy as he left the shop with his bread. The grandmother accepted, something which sadly might well not happen in today’s world. When the boy came out of the shop duly clutching the loaf, Ronis asked him to run, which he did, three times in all, until the photographer was able to snap the image he wanted. Thus, the oh-so-authentic Parisian street scene was actually a total set-up. Nonetheless, the image is timeless and its appeal endures.
The boulangerie from which the little boy emerged and the boulanger who made the bread he bought get their name from boule (ball)—the traditional shape of loaves for many centuries, as can be seen in the medieval trade-guild windows in the great gothic cathedrals of France.
13th-century stained glass windows depicting bakers and bread vendors
Left and center: Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral (Image | Dr. Stuart Watling)
Right: St-Etienne de Bourges Cathedral (Image | AKG Images)
By the 18th century, though, it seems that bakers were starting to deviate from the traditional round loaves and began to produce long, thin ones. By the 19th century, some of them were up two metres in length, a source of great fascination to foreign tourists visiting Paris. While the first use of the term “baguette” does not appear until the early 20th century, a plethora of stories, anecdotes and myths has grown up claiming to fix their historical origin.
A common version has Napoleon (though whether Bonaparte or his nephew Emperor Napoleon III depends on which story) requesting a loaf of bread with a form that fit more easily into the pockets (or bags) of his soldiers. Another points to a post-revolutionary decree proclaiming a “Pain d’Égalité”, equal for both rich and poor. Before the Revolution, the wealthy had bread made with fine flour and the poor had to be content with bread made from miller’s bran. Then there is the story of Auguste Zang, a successful Viennese baker who set up shop in Paris in 1839, introducing new Viennese “traditions.” To this day, “Viennoiserie” is the generic term used to describe pastries such as croissant, pain aux raisins and pain au chocolat.
Image | Wikimedia Commons
Some place the baguette’s birth even more recently when, in the 1920s, a law prohibiting bread-baking between 10pm and 4am forced Parisian bakers to invent a loaf that they could cook after 4am and still have ready in time for their first morning customers. Possibly the most colourful story of all dates back to 1898, to the mastermind behind the Paris métro, Fulgence Bienvenüe, requesting, a loaf that could be broken by hand. Back then, subterranean Paris was a seemingly dangerous place. The construction of the new underground railway system required huge numbers of workers. Many of them hailed from all over all France, and few could resist a quarrel. Knives meant for cutting bread often became weapons, and Monsieur Bienvenüe would have none of that.
Whatever its origins, today, the world of the baguette is enshrined in law–perhaps not surprisingly, as the French, or their forebears, have been legislating about bread since at least the time of Charlemagne in the 8th century. A 1993 decree, the “Décret Pain”, codified the recipe for the “traditional” loaf, while a law promulgated four years later stipulated exactly who had the legal right to call themselves a “boulanger”. The label is reserved for professionals who produce the entire loaf on the premises where it is sold, and who do not use freezing in the process.
In 2006, a consortium of bakers set up the “Observatoire du Pain” to better regulate the industry. Then in 2010, the bakers decided that a rebranding was in order. They created a logo, consisting of two yellow loaves accompanied by the slogan “‘Boulanger’: C’est un métier” (literally, Baker: It's a profession).
Image | boulangerie.org
France has now formally requested that the baguette be recognized by UNESCO as part of the “world intangible cultural heritage.” The fact that it is all too tangible is seemingly lost on them. Indeed, a test of a baguette’s quality is said to be its ability to spring back into shape when you squeeze it. But the truly best way to tell if a baguette is good: just eat it.
Image | Sergio Arze
