Baguette

With its lovely caramel color, crusty exterior, and soft crumb interior, the baguette is one of the emblems of France, and especially Paris. What’s more, this culinary treasure is one of life’s affordable little pleasures!

The experts don’t all agree on its origins: some think that it was imported from Vienna; others think that it was invented by the bakers of Napoleon. All that is known for sure is that the baguette became widespread in Paris in the 1920’s. In fact, as a result of a law in 1919 on working at night, bakers were prevented from working the dough before 4am in the morning. In order to provide customers with bread in time, they opted for long thin-shaped bread that required a shorter period in which to rise and be cooked than a round loaf. That is how the baguette came into being!