In the 20th century, baguettes became less popular as fast food and supermarkets became more common. Shoppers began buying frozen bread at their local supermarkets as an alternativeto baguettes. So, in 1993, the French government passed another law to protect the future of tradition a l baguettes. The law statedthat baguettes must only contain four ingredients: water, yeast, salt, and wheatflour.
Recently, a group of French bakers took further steps to protect their national bread. They sent an applicationto the UN requesting that baguettes be recognized as a UNESCO cultural treasure. The bakers believe that gaining UNESCO recognitionwill save their tradition and bring attention to the special baking techniques they’ve developed4over the years. The road to UNESCO probably won’t be an easy one, though. Baguettes will have to beat out5 the beautiful Paris roofs and a popular French wine festival in order to win the honor.
The past two years have been difficult for baguette bakers. COVID-19 restrictionshave forced thousands of bakeries to close down6 for good. However, chances arethe demandfor fresh baguettes will remain high and these stores will reopen once things get back to normal.
