Daily Times

The baguette – a mix of wheat flour, water, yeast, salt and a pinch of savoir-faire and as much a symbol of France as the Eiffel Tower – may soon join UNESCO’s listing of cultural treasures. Bakers say the traditional craft loaf, whose purchase from the local bakery has for decades been a ritual in French daily life, is being pushed off shop shelves, even in France, by frozen bread sticks made on giant assembly lines. “There’s not one single secret to making a good traditional baguette,” said Mickael Reydellet, owner of eight bakeries. “It requires time, a savoir-faire, the right way of baking, good flour without additives.” The Confederation of French Bakers has submitted its application to be added to the UN rankings of intangible treasures. The baguette finds itself up against two rivals for the French bid: The zinc-plated rooftops of Paris and the Jura region’s Biou d’Arbois wine festival. France’s culture minister will make her recommendation to the president in March.