The United Nations organization has validated the French application for this craftsmanship.
It is under a proud raising of the baguette of the French delegation that the 17th intergovernmental committee of Unesco unanimously decided to register the craftsmanship and the culture of the baguette on the Representative List of the heritage intangible cultural heritage of humanity, this Wednesday morning. “A huge pride“, for the president of the National Confederation of French Bakery and Pastry (CNBPF), Dominique Anract, present on site. This craft expands the list of French knowledge already noted, such as the Aubusson tapestry (entered in 2009), or the fest-noz, a collective practice of traditional dances from Brittany (in 2012).
In his speech of thanks, the representative of artisan bakers made a point of recalling the central place occupied by the profession and bread in French culture: “This is the first purchase that a child makes alone“, he illustrated, “a place you go to every day“. He then pointed out that the bakery “was often the only trader open in some villages“. A presence that has tended to decline for several decades in the face of competition from convenience stores and distribution: “400 of them close every year“, he underlined. This inscription therefore had a major importance, symbolically.
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The authorities reacted very quickly to this announcement. In a press release, the Ministers of Culture and SMEs stressed the importance of a “emblem of French cultural heritage“. “In its various forms, traditional or reinvented by our craftsmen, the baguette has given rhythm to French daily life – morning, noon and evening – for several centuries and has been exported to many countries.“, greeted Rima Abdul Malak, when his colleague Olivia Grégoire welcomed a “recognition of the culture of the baguette, which it is up to us to preserve and protect, to ensure the transmission of this heritage“.
A “living part of our heritage”
The baguette’s candidacy was announced a year ago, in March 2021. Other tricolor specificities, such as the zinc roofs of Paris, were in the running to integrate the Unesco list, but the famous piece of bread had finally been preferred by the government. In an interview at Parisianthe Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, hailed “a living part of our heritage“, capable of bringing together the French.
In its application file, France noted that “the baguette differs from other breads because it is made up of only four ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast and/or sourdough) from which each baker, by playing on the terroir, the dosage, the kneading, the pointing (time fermentation), shaping and baking, will obtain a unique baguette“. This product is still widely consumed throughout France: according to Dominique Anract, “twelve million French people» visit their bakery every day.
The list drawn up by Unesco includes the “traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and transmitted to our descendants“. It includes in particular thesocial practices, rituals and festive events“, or even the “know-how necessary for traditional craftsmanship“. The Cultural Heritage Committee has been examining dozens of applications since Monday, including the art of pottery to the Cham people in Vietnam, Holy Week in Guatemala, “the living culture of the funfair and the art of the fairgroundbetween Belgium and France, the Al-Mansaf banquet in Jordan, the Tunisian harissa or the Algerian raï.
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A few hours before the verdict, Dominique Anract, president of the National Confederation of French Bakery-Pastry (CNBPF), said to himself “very optimistic“, even if he did not want “not claim victory before the decision is made“. It must be said that the 250g of wheat, water, salt and leaven come with a certain advantage: “The headquarters of the institution is in Paris, all the members of the committee have already been to a bakerylaughed the representative of the bakers.