Vive la baguette!
Source: Sergio Arze on Unsplash
Macron: French baguettes should be Unesco-listed treasures
The French baguette should be listed as a Unesco cultural treasure, says France's President Emmanuel Macron."The baguette is the envy of the whole world," he said, in support of a national bakers' association that is promoting the application.
The bakers have been inspired by the success of Italy's Naples pizza, which was protected by the UN's cultural body last year.
Unesco's list aims to save traditions from globalisation.
The Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage meets annually to evaluate nominations from around the world.
Why do the French think this is necessary?
The bakers say it is not just the name and shape, but the recipe and ingredients that need to be enshrined.
"Excellence and expertise must be preserved, and that is why it should be heritage-listed," President Macron told French radio after receiving a group of master bakers at the Elysée presidential palace in Paris on Friday.
Artisan breadmakers have voiced concern about mass-produced imitations.
"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 (CNPBF), told food website Atabula. "The bread is frozen, some of it comes from Romania or who knows where, nothing is carried out in accordance with the rules of the art."
The traditional baguette is already protected in France by a 1993 law. To meet the criteria, the bread must only be made from four ingredients: wheat flour, water, yeast and salt. It cannot be frozen or contain added preservatives.
What is already on the list?
Unesco's Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage is different from its register of places, known as World Heritage Sites.
Instead, this list focuses on traditions - mostly crafts, music, dance and cuisine. Yoga, Spanish flamenco and Tibetan Opera have already made the grade, as have Belgian beer culture and the gingerbread craft of northern Croatia.
France has already racked up multiple successful applications, from Alençon lace-making to French-style equitation.
There is even a broadly termed listing for the "French gastronomic meal". That submission was centred mostly around the rituals that accompany the cuisine: how wines are paired with dishes, how the table is dressed, and the precise placing of glasses and cutlery.
The UK does not have any entries on the list. It is one of few countries in the world that has not signed up to the "safeguarding intangible heritage" convention, which was established in 2003.
Comments
I’m no supporter of bread so I don’t envy the French baguette as said Mr. Macron. The aim of Unesco’s list is to save tradition from globalization, but I don’t know what the French gain if the French baguette is protected by the UN’s cultural body. The pizza of Italy’s Naples is already in Unesco’s list and does it add anything if everybody knows what is the pizza? The French said that it must be preserved its excellence and expertise, but if I go to supermarket to buy the baguette and they give me the baguette with added preservatives, what happens?
Must I go to the Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, to the French Estate Organism or to the Spanish Office of Consumer to present my complaint? In my opinion, I’m only going to get that they laugh at me.
The Certificate of Origen of wine, for instance, requires checks to know that is from a particular place and there are a lot of rules that protect its commercialization, but in case of the pizza or the baguette I don’t know how the Italians or the French can protect them by the UN’s cultural body.
See you.
It is important to stop some traditions dying out and to preserve historical sites but I don't trust all these lists. Everywhere we turn in Spain we find a Patrimony of this, that or the other. I suspect bribes are given in return for an honoury title.
The last straw for me would be if bullfighting received any international recognition.
As for the baguette, I think the French easily trump the Spanish.
I find it funny to see so many signs around us declaring "hay pan". Most people buy bread on a daily basis yet the standard of the Spanish baguette is poor.
I’m no fan of bread / I'm not very keen on bread so I don’t envy the French baguette as Mr. Macron said. The aim of the Unesco list is to save tradition from globalization, but I don’t know what the French gain if the French baguette is protected by the UN’s cultural body. The pizza of Italy’s Naples is already on the Unesco list and does it add anything if everybody knows what pizza is? The French said that its excellence and expertise must be preserved, but if I go to the supermarket to buy a baguette and they give me a baguette with added preservatives, what happens then?
Must I go to the Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, to the French Estate Organism or to the Spanish Office of Consumer to present my complaint? In my opinion, I'll only end up with them laughing at me.
The Certificate of Origen of wine, for instance, requires checks to know that is from a particular place and there are a lot of rules that protect its commercialization, but in the case of the pizza or the baguette, I don’t know how the Italians or the French can protect them by the UN’s cultural body.