Let Them Eat Bread

The French baguette is more than just a long and slim bread with a crunch. It's a symbol of French culture recognised by UNESCO

- Smita Tripathi

IN SEASON THREE of the hugely popular Netflix show Emily in Paris, McDonald's is planning to launch the McBaguette in France. Whether McDonald's will actually ever do that, we don't know, but the McBaguette may just turn out to be a hit given the love for baguettes that the French have. Consider this: nearly 10 billion baguettes are eaten in France every year.

There are few things quite as quintessentially French than the humble baguette. Little wonder, then, that UNESCO has added the bread to its 'intangible cultural heritage list' in 2022. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and good with just about anything-smothered in jam, dipped in butter, had with soup, milk or coffee-the long, slim bread is a staple in most French households.

The exact provenance of the baguette is not known. But like with most legends associated with food, there are several interesting stories regarding the baguette. One famous origin story credits Napoleon Bonaparte. "It is said he ordered the bread to be made longer and more slender in shape to fit into the pockets of his soldiers or to be carried easily under their arm," says Maxime Montay, Executive Chef at Delhi-based French pâtisserie Monique. "Even today, you see most French persons carrying the baguette under their arm," he adds. Another theory holds that bread was the cause of the French Revolution because bread was the mainstay of the French diet, and peasants rioted when they saw the nobility eating the crusty white sticks while they faced shortages and famine.