Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. The French baguette is a type of bread so iconic that it has its own emoji, So it stands to reason. The United Nations Cultural Agency UNESCO placed the baguette, along with the artisanal know how and culture of baguette bread, on its twenty twenty two representative
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage entries already includes about six hundred traditions from more than one hundred and thirty countries. Inclusion in the list means recognizing a country's heritage and its importance in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of increasing globalization. In this case, France is being recognized for its baguette.
The French baguette was part of a long list of new inscriptions for twenty twenty two, which includes everything from beekeeping and slevie and weaving practices in Kuwait to Japanese dance rituals okay. So why the baguette? It is the most popular form of bread produced in France. Each day, bakers there produce more than sixteen million bagats, adding up to nearly six billion a year. You've probably run across one,
or at least something like it. A long loaf, the name comes from the word baton or wand in French. With a crisp, golden brown exterior. The interior is chewy but airy, with large, irregularly shaped air pockets. France itself already ensconced the integrity of the baguette in nineteen ninety three, when it set out strict rules by which baguetts must be made, following baking traditions that go back to at
least the nineteen twenties. According to this French law, traditional baguettes can only contain four ingredients flower, salt, water and yeast. They must be between twenty one and twenty five inches that's fifty five and sixty five centimeters in length and about two to three inches or five to six centimeters in diameter. They can also only proof, that is rest and rise on the site where they are baked. In
each traditional bakery called a boulangerie. Each baker uses their own learned knowledge to mix, need and rest or proof the dough and to make the distinctive cuts on top of their baguettes before baking, so while there are standards, every baggette is different. Baggetts and the bakeries that bake them have a rich social history. In France, bakeries are neighborhood gathering places, and proximity to bakeries is a top
selling point for many home buyers. Babies and toddlers are often given the heel of the loaf to chew on while their teething and young children are sometimes entrusted with a couple euros to walk to the boulangerie and purchase baguettes or other baked goods. Despite the bagett's popularity, France has lost an estimated four hundred artisanal bakeries a year since nineteen seventy as supermarkets have taken over baking duties
from the traditional blancherie, especially in rural areas. In nineteen seventy there were fifty five thousand artisanal bakeries in France. Today it's closer to thirty five thousand. Both the UNESCO and the National Federation of French Bakeries and Patisseries hope the recognition for baguettes will spark a revival in quality
artisanal baking. The French government plans to create a holiday called Open Bakehouse Day for citizens to better connect with this delicious part of their heritage, and perhaps if more people appreciate the beloved baguette, it will load the loss of the local blangerie. Today's episode is based on the article the French Baguette receives UNESCO World Heritage Status on houstofworks dot com, written by Patti Resmussen. To learn more about baguette science and history, check out the episode of
my other show SAB called the Krusty Baggett episode. A brainstuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with houstuffworks dot com and it is produced by Tyler klang A. Four more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.