PROTECTING THE BAGUETTE AS A CULTURAL TREASURE

French President Emmanuel Macron supports a group of bakers in its bid to protect the baguette, according to BBC News.

Inclusion on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list would preserve the beloved baking tradition — its name, shape, ingredients and culinary practice.

“The baguette is envied in the whole world,” Macron said in an interview with Europe 1 radio. “We need to preserve its excellence and know-how. This is why it needs to be (classified) as heritage.”

Baguettes have become a symbol of French gustatory prowess around the world. However, the master bakers leading the proposal are alarmed by what passes for the lean loaf today.

“When I see the quality of bread in supermarkets, it is impossible not to get angry,” Dominique Anract, president of the National Confederation of French Patisseries and Bakeries, told food website Atabula.

“The bread is frozen, some of it comes from Romania or who knows where, nothing is carried out in accordance of the rules of the art.”

If the UNESCO committee approves the bid for the baguette, it will join other culinary items such as the French gastronomic meal, Japanese washoku ( traditional cuisine) and kimchee-making in North Korea.

Last year, Italy’s push for Neapolitan pizza to be protected by the UN cultural organization was successful.