What and why should you ask a baker before buying a baguette in France?

As 2022 draws to an end and some of us look back on what was or might have been, Euronews Culture has been breaking bread with many of our French bakers over the UN's historic decision to heap its highest praise on arguably France's most humble item - the baguette. 

In case you missed it, the United Nations' cultural agency, UNESCO, rewarded French artisanal savoir-faire by listing the baguette an "intangible cultural heritage of humanity".

Now don't get me wrong, as a Frenchwoman, it's great to see an everyday product celebrated, but the baguette is perhaps the worst item in a French shopping basket to pick as the flag bearer for our culinary knowledge.

Indeed, in France, behind the word "baguette", you will find a wide range of different quality products; from very tasty homemade baguettes to very insipid generic ones.

That's no surprise in itself, but you may not know that a growing number of French people are turning their noses up and away from the baguette. The average household ate about three baguettes a day at the start of the 20th century, compared to barely half of one today. 

But how did France, the world's gastronomic capital, get here?

To better understand, let’s go back a little in time and follow the thread of the baguette's history… Invented in the 19th century, the apparition of baguette greatly reduced the arduous work of bakers, its long shape reducing in particular the cooking time.

During the 20th century, kneading was gradually made easier by the arrival of machines, white flours prevail over whole grains, and yeast - which makes the dough grow faster - gradually replaced sourdough.

The baguette, first reserved for city dwellers, became popular after the Second World War, in the 1960s and 70s, at the time