The Baguette: Unraveling the Secrets Behind France's Most Irresistible Pastry

Baker Christian Vabret gently presses a baguette, coaxing it to 'sing.'

As his hands apply pressure, the crust buckles, creating a crackling, electric sound.

‘A good baguette can be recognized by its song,’ he explains.

‘Le pain qui chante,’ or 'bread that sings,' is a cherished expression among French bakers, marking a perfectly baked baguette, according to Vabret.

It was a stark contrast to the supermarket baguette he had tried to make crackle just moments before. Instead of a lively snap, the pale loaf remained silent, unaffected by his attempts to coax it.

This moment took place in April, during Paris's third lockdown.

Vabret, who had temporarily closed his bakery, opened his Covid-19-shuttered tea salon, Marie Antoinette, adjacent to his bakery 'Au Petit Versailles du Marais' in the 4th arrondissement. There, he demonstrated how to tell the difference between a great baguette and a bad one (the tea salon has since reopened).

In addition to holding the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France, a prestigious honor recognizing France's top craftsmen, Vabret founded the World Cup of Baking in 1992. This international competition, held every two years in Paris, is often referred to as the Olympics of baking.

Few are more qualified than Vabret to teach a lesson in the art of bread-making.

When it comes to French baguettes – one of the country's most iconic culinary symbols – not all of them are created equal.

The crème de la crème

The finest baguettes don’t simply go by the name 'baguette.' The top-tier varieties are known as traditions (pronounced tra-di-syon), costing around 20 to 30 cents more than a regular 'classic' baguette. These must be crafted according to strict regulations established by a government decree in 1993.

To be called a tradition, a baguette must be made with only four ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast or natural leavening. Any additives, preservatives, or fillers are strictly prohibited. Additionally, the bread must be made sur place or on-site. In contrast, regular baguettes are quicker to bake and often filled with additives, making them inferior in both taste and quality.

In other words, as baker Djibril Bodian, a two-time winner of the prestigious Grand Prix de la Baguette competition in Paris, explains, there are no shortcuts in making the perfect baguette.

"You can't cheat your way with this bread," he says. "It’s up to the baker to develop their own method for creating a beautiful tradition."

It’s this unique expertise, or savoir-faire, that Dominique Anract, president of the French Federation of Bakers and Pâtissiers, hopes will be recognized on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2022. In March, the French Ministry of Culture announced that the baguette was chosen for this prestigious submission over other candidates like the zinc rooftops of Paris and the grape harvest and wine festival in Arbois, a village in eastern France.

The announcement marked the end of a four-year campaign by the bakery federation, which had been raising alarms about the decline in bread consumption across France and the looming threats to the craft.

The Danger to Traditional Bread and Culture

According to the Observatoire du Pain, a research group that monitors bread consumption trends in France, the average daily bread consumption per adult has dropped from 143 grams (5 ounces) in 2003 to just 103 grams (3.6 ounces) in 2016.

France boasts around 33,000 bakeries nationwide, but the rise of superettes—small grocery stores run by major supermarket chains selling mass-produced baguettes—has led to the closure of approximately 1,000 family-owned bakeries every year, says Anract.

"Our craft is slowly vanishing," he says. "With this UNESCO petition, our aim is to preserve not only our artisanal expertise but also the deep-rooted bread culture in France."

For the French, the baguette is a crucial part of their cultural development, cherished by both children and adults alike.

For toddlers, the heel of the bread – affectionately called le quignon – often marks their first experience with solid food. A well-known image of French life is the Parisian strolling down the street, munching on the quignon while carrying the rest of the baguette home for dinner.

For children of school age, the baguette represents another important rite of passage in their upbringing, according to Anract.

"It’s often the first thing a child buys on their own," he says. "A parent hands over some change and sends them off to complete their first errand alone."

For homebuyers, renters, and real estate agents, a local bakery can be a significant selling point. For the elderly, especially those living alone, a daily trip to the bakery often provides their only social interaction of the day, Anract adds.

"Elderly women who have lost their husbands come to the bakery to chat with the shopkeeper until the next customer arrives. The bakery becomes a real social hub," says Anract.

"Don't abandon your roots," is the message.

In his 2020 book, *Pour le pain* (For the Bread), American historian Steven Kaplan expresses concern over the gradual decline of France’s deep-rooted breadmaking culture. He urges the French to reclaim and honor their culinary heritage.

"The book urges the French not to let go of their identity because it is inextricably tied to bread. Don’t forsake your roots," Kaplan says.

The modern baguette, for example, is the result of various social, economic, and cultural shifts in the 20th century, Kaplan explains. In 1919, a law banning night shifts forced bakers to adopt quicker, more efficient methods for baking bread, which had previously been an arduous and labor-intensive process that required regular attention to a starter dough.

The solution was to introduce baker's yeast, and this new type of baguette became favored by the urban bourgeoisie, who grew accustomed to having freshly baked bread several times a day. As a result, the demand for white bread increased, with its associations to purity, success, and upward social mobility, especially after years of eating coarse, dark bread made from oats, barley, and other unrefined grains during and after World War II.

But here's the irony.

Experts agree: the best baguettes aren’t white. The top-tier baguette – the *tradition* – is baked long enough to develop the Maillard reaction, a chemical process between sugars and proteins that results in a caramelized brown crust, which crackles and pops when squeezed (the signature baguette 'song'), according to Vabret.

Similarly, the crumb should have a cream or pale yellow hue, never stark white, and be filled with irregularly shaped holes, known as *alvéolage*. The aromas may range from floral to pleasantly acidic, fruity, and fresh, while the crumb should dissolve delicately on the palate.

Mastering the craft

At Bodian’s bakery, *Le Grenier à Pain Abbesses* in Montmartre, long lines of customers are a frequent sight, thanks to the baker’s renown. Bodian, 44, is the only baker to have won the Grand Prix de la Baguette twice (2010 and 2015), a prestigious blind competition where around 200 *tradition* loaves compete for a 4,000-euro cash prize, the title of official bread supplier to the French president and the Elysée for the year, and the admiration of his peers.

Bodian, who moved from Senegal to France at the age of six, says he was inspired to pursue the craft after growing up in a household where his father, a baker himself, spoke with great pride and enthusiasm about his work throughout his childhood.

“Every day, my father would return home exhausted yet content, always telling us he had the best job in the world. He never complained or spoke negatively about his work,” he recalls.

Despite his successes, he says he is always striving to improve his craft. This commitment means he has chosen to focus exclusively on making *traditions*, avoiding the production of regular baguettes.

“Rather than making mediocre bread, I decided to focus on creating only *traditions* and mastering the art,” he explains.

10 of Paris’ top bakeries

For your next visit to Paris, here are the top 10 winners of the 2020 Grand Prix de la Baguette, which awards the title of best *tradition* in the city.

*Les saveurs de Pierre Demours, 13, rue Pierre Demours, 17th arrondissement*

*L’essentiel Mouffetard, 2, rue Mouffetard, 5th arrondissement*

*Boulangerie Martyrs, 10, rue des Martyrs, 9th arrondissement*

*Au 140, 140, rue de Belleville, 20th arrondissement*

*Aux Délices du Palais, 60 Boulevard Brune, 14th arrondissement*

*Aux Délices de Glacière, 90 Boulevard Auguste Blanqui, 13th arrondissement*

*Boulangerie Lorette, 2 Rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 13th arrondissement*

*Boulangerie Guyot, 28 Rue Monge, 5th arrondissement*

*Giovanni Boulangerie Contemporaine, 49 Rue Chardon Lagache, 16th arrondissement*

*Maison Leparq, 6 Rue de Lourmel, 15th arrondissement*