The French baguette is the newest addition to UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list. Read to know why this staple is on the list and about its significance.
Baguette is on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity
On November 30, the french staple bread, baguette joined the UN’s list of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). UNESCO, the international body is promoting cooperation and peace among nations through the medium of education, science, arts, and culture. The French staple food, “Artisanal know-how and culture of the bread,” is now a world cultural heritage.
The list includes “oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge, and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts”.
The baguette is a long, thin loaf of bread made using flour, water, yeast, and salt. While its history is not certain, some believe it was invented by August Zang, a Viennese baker, and entrepreneur in 1839. While others believe Napoleon Bonaparte ordered thin bread for the consumption of soldiers.
More on baguette and its significance
In March 2021, the baguette was nominated by France as its candidate for consideration in the ICH list. It also drew attention to the decline in bakeries across the nation making the item. Since 1970, over 20,000 traditional bakeries have closed. “In 1970, there were 55,000 artisanal bakeries (one for every 790 residents) compared with 35,000 today (one for every 2,000), often in favor of baguettes produced industrially,” stated the French Culture Ministry.
The nation’s 67 million-strong population consumes about 10 billion baguettes every year. “The baguette is a living heritage that follows us through life. When a baby is teething, his parents give him the tip of a baguette to chew on. When a child grows up, the first errand he carries out on his own is to go and buy a baguette at the boulangerie,” stated Dominique Anract. Anract is the President of the French Bakers’ Confederation. Additionally, “for our elders, buying a baguette at the boulangerie is sometimes their only daily social contact,” he added.