The Baguette Connects Back To The French Revolution
The baguette is considered to be a symbol of France; for centuries, bread was a main food source for the French. The origin of the baguette connects back to the French Revolution. Prior to the revolution, the upper class had an abundance of edible, fine quality white bread. On the other hand, the lower class relied on poorly milled bran grains for bran bread as a food source, however due to its inedible qualities and limited production many starved. As a result, the French Revolution calling for more bread as well as addressing other problems–internationally, politically, socially, etc–occured. Interestingly, the storming of the Bastille was bread related too, even though it is associated mostly with the angry mob, weapons, and critic of the
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He and his government wanted to avoid the mistake of his predecessors, so they established standards for French bread. Standards that described the specific ingredients and methods to bake the bread–quality control–thus ending speculations of farmers and brokers. Later, the government includes specific standards for the size and shape of the baguette. The word “baguette” means wand, baton or stick, alluding to the bread’s shape and comes from the Latin word baculum. Supposedly, the baguette’s length was an effect of a 1920’s law preventing workers from working before 4:00 a.m. and no later than 10:00 p.m. In order to accommodate the changes and making sure the food is ready for breakfast, bakers found that when the bread is long and thin it baked faster. Some believe that the contribution to the baguette size and shape is that Napoleon wanted loaves of bread that would be able to fit in his soldiers’ pockets for easier mobility in battle. Another belief was that it was because of the Paris metro that affected its appearance. Before the long and slender baguette, everyone needed to use a knife to cut their bread and the knives became a concern about violence in the dark tunnels. To relieve concerns, a supervisor requested the bakery to make the loaves to be easily torn rather than cut. Now, the typical size of a baguette can range from a diameter of 5 or 6 cm (2 or 3 inches) with a length of about 60 cm ( 24 inches) to a length of 39 inches–a meter
He and his government wanted to avoid the mistake of his predecessors, so they established standards for French bread. Standards that described the specific ingredients and methods to bake the bread–quality control–thus ending speculations of farmers and brokers. Later, the government includes specific standards for the size and shape of the baguette. The word “baguette” means wand, baton or stick, alluding to the bread’s shape and comes from the Latin word baculum. Supposedly, the baguette’s length was an effect of a 1920’s law preventing workers from working before 4:00 a.m. and no later than 10:00 p.m. In order to accommodate the changes and making sure the food is ready for breakfast, bakers found that when the bread is long and thin it baked faster. Some believe that the contribution to the baguette size and shape is that Napoleon wanted loaves of bread that would be able to fit in his soldiers’ pockets for easier mobility in battle. Another belief was that it was because of the Paris metro that affected its appearance. Before the long and slender baguette, everyone needed to use a knife to cut their bread and the knives became a concern about violence in the dark tunnels. To relieve concerns, a supervisor requested the bakery to make the loaves to be easily torn rather than cut. Now, the typical size of a baguette can range from a diameter of 5 or 6 cm (2 or 3 inches) with a length of about 60 cm ( 24 inches) to a length of 39 inches–a meter