The baguette: queen of French bread
The baguette: queen of French bread
If the baguette is a symbol of France, it is because its history is linked to that of the country.
During the Revolution, a decree pronounced that all the population should eat the same bread, without distinction between the rich and the poor:
“All bakers will be required to make a single type of bread: Le Pain Égalité”.
It would have taken its elongated shape during the Napoleonic wars, so that French soldiers could carry their ration in the pockets of their uniform.
As for its texture, it would be due to the fights that opposed the workers on the construction site of the Paris metro in the 1900s.
To avoid armed conflict, the master builders reportedly asked bakers to make bread that was easy to share without a knife.
