FIVE THINGS ABOUT BAGUETTES

1 TREASURE THOSE BAGUETTES

French President Emmanuel Macron has thrown his weight behind calls for the UN to recognize France’s beloved baguette as a “cultural treasure.” “I know our bakers,” the president said after hosting a group of master bakers and apprentice bread and pastry makers at the Elysee palace. “They saw that the Neapolitans had managed to get their pizza classed on UNESCO’s world heritage list, and they said why can’t we do this for the baguette. And they’re right,” he said.

2 FOUR INGREDIENTS

The baguette, Macron proudly declared, is envied around the world. “We must preserve its excellence and our expertise, and it is for this reason that it should be heritage-listed,” he said. If he gets his way, the “baguette de tradition” — which by law must be made using only flour, yeast, salt and water, unlike the ordinary baguette where the rules are less tight — could be on the road to UNESCO glory.

3 UN DECISION-MAKERS

The UN’s cultural body meets once a year to decide what will get on to its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The list is mostly made up of crafts or traditional practices such as yoga, falconry or tango dancing, which the organization believes should be protected and supported. But it also includes things related to food or drink, such as coffee culture or beer culture in Belgium. Last month the city of Naples received formal recognition for its traditional Neapolitan pizza.

4 MUCH EFFORT REQUIRED

The recognition of pizza making came after a 10-year lobbying campaign, including a petition signed by more than two million Italians, many of them fed up with abominations they see abroad such as topping pizza with pineapple, prawns or mayonnaise. It was for similar reasons that French bakers, fearful of the spread of poor quality bread, launched their bid.

5 QUOTED

“A baguette is the symbol of France, like the Eiffel Tower,” said Dominique Anract, the president of the national confederation of baking and pastry.