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"Bread
is the king of the table and all else is merely the court that surrounds the
king. The countries are the soup, the
meat, the vegetables, the salad. But
bread is the king"
Louis Bromfield (1896-1956)
The baguette, known to most of the western world simply as
"French bread" is a leading cultural and traditional icon for France. Throughout France's history, bread has been a
major factor in shaping how the French view themselves and how they wish to
appear to the rest of the world. Bakers
across France take pride in their loaves; creating the perfect baguette is seen
as an art form to the French people. Yet even today as modernity rears its ever
growing head to the cultures of the world; globalization and corporatization
irreversibly alter cultures across the expanse of the globe. The bakers of
France are staying true to their cultural identities with their love and
admiration for a simple, yet delightful thing: bread. What is it about the baguette that has a
nation of French, and even a world of followers, lusting after its taste and
aroma, texture and traditional qualities?
This paper
is meant to take a look at how the baguette became the traditional standby, the
icon of a world-famous nation of gourmands!
France has several of the five senses perfected; their sense of smell is
apparent through their world-famous
perfumes; their sense of sight through their awe-inspiring architecture and
landscaping, not to mention world-famous fashion designers. Hearing is another source, as the French have
some beautiful music to be heard. In the
sense of taste the French are surpassed by few.
France also is home to great food, where most of it is unrivaled. So how is it that something so simple: flour, yeast, water, salt, and time can
become such an important aspect to the lives of so many French people? Essentially this paper begs the question how
and why the baguette, and bread in general, is so integral to the lives of
French people?
In an
interview conducted for this research project, my grandmother; a native to
France, emphasized the prominence of the baguette in day-to-day French
life. "The routine for many French
people is to get up in the morning and before anything else, go and buy a
baguette and newspaper." She explained how the French have a love of food,
but not simply a love of fine, four-star gourmet foods, rather the French love
the food that they have always eaten.
The French love the simple foods that make them happy and feel connected
with their culture. She went on to say,
"There is a visceral attachment between the French and their baguette,
this does not exist anywhere else."
My
grandmother explained, in this interview, that the French have a different
sense about life, that what a typical French-person wants to get out of life
are good friends, family, good wine and of course, good food! She explained that one of the favorite sandwiches
in Paris is something called a "Jambon-Beurre" which she explained "this is a sandwich
that is very simple, with a baguette, ham and butter. Foreign people who visit say that buying this
with the baguette makes them feel really French!" It is evident that there is an appreciation
among many French people for simple, yet delicious foods. This is also evidently a cultural tradition
among them as well.
When posed
with the question, 'how is the baguette an integral part of daily life for the
French?' My grandmother replied that being
able to buy the baguette every day, sometimes multiple times a day, gives
"a feeling of security and content" where she went on to say that one
must "Have a bowl of cafe au lait, butter the baguette and dip it in the
coffee mixture...this is a must in the French culture!" Yet most of the questions posed to my
grandmother concerned how the baguette is viewed and used by mostly older
French citizens.
How is it then that the younger, more
globalized people of France are faring with the baguette? Is it as central to their lives as it was
with their parents or grandparents? How was the baguette faring in this modern
world of fast food and microwave dinners? To this she replied that "For the
younger generation, buying a baguette and going home by metro or bicycle, and
eating it on their way makes them feel good, relaxed and somewhat happy." "Even McDonalds" she said,
"makes their sandwiches with the baguette...the French are holding even
more strongly to their baguette because it is a symbol of goodness, durability,
and excellence!" Can it then be assumed that the baguette is here to
stay? Continuing a tradition to France's
economy and to its people since long before modern memory serves.
My
grandmother commented that the unique attachment that France has to its bread
may have to do with the idea that many French are Catholic, traditionally and
historically. Thus a little research on
this topic might enlighten the theory a bit.
In Catholicism there is a common enactment performed at church meetings
and at home over meals, this is called "Breaking the bread" something
that many of France's citizens, throughout history, have taken to heart. The
breaking of the bread is symbolic for Catholics, who claim that the bread is
representational of Jesus' bones or body.
Catholicism is still the dominant religion in France, with 65% of the
population following its doctrines (Ministere des Affaires et Europeennes
2008), thus historically France has indeed been a dominantly Catholic
country. Along with modern times there
come fewer rituals, but the common thread to all French people, these their
common basic requirements still remain.
Perhaps many
French do not think about the religious symbolism when they break their bread,
perhaps some do. However as Harriet
Bruce Moore emphasized in her article, The
meaning of food, "Food and eating, in and of themselves, are looked
upon as symbolizing interpersonal acceptance, friendliness, sociability, or warmth"
(Moore 1957). This, in one simple sentence, describes that which my grandmother
endeavored to relay about the French people and their bread. The bread to the French is not just a source
of carbohydrates, it is symbolic to them of communion, friendship, happy times,
and contentedness in life. Bread is
that one item always found at a meal, it is simple in its construction, beloved
by millions, and even fiercely protected for its simplicity and virtue.
In fact even
bread had a hand in the tide of events that preceded the French Revolution. King
Louis XVI's coronation in 1775 was nearly postponed due to riots in the streets
of Paris, the riots were centered around the complaints that bread and flour
prices were too high (Doyle 1989: 1). The French populous rioted and worked
towards a just monarchy, yet it did not come.
So the people did what they thought to be their only option for a free
republic, where grain and bread prices could not surpass that of the lowliest
classes ability to pay. Popular legend
tells of the queen of France, Marie Antoinette, in response to hearing about
the poor of France starving and rioting in the streets in 1789, saying
"Let them eat cake!" It is
rumored that this was a true statement, yet some believe that it was not in
fact what the queen said. Whatever the
case, in 1789 the protestors had had enough of high bread prices and hunger, it
is said that women were the first to storm the palace. Angered women who could not supply their
families with the bread needed to survive and who demanded the return of the
baker to Paris (Zweig et al. 2002: 252).
Global
economies and factory line cookie-cutter bread products abound, the majority of
French citizens still would rather buy their bread, or baguette, from their
local boulangerie. Within the last decade, nearly ninety-percent
of French businesses were small businesses (Peer 1998: 177). This trait of the French people, of holding
on to tradition and quality in an ever modernizing and growing global economy,
simply shows a glimmer of why it is that the French prefer their baguette to
factory produced bread products. In fact
after the introduction of factory-made bread products, many French bakers took
a stand against the deteriorating quality of bread, they came to an
understanding among true bakers that the way to make bread was by doing it
"Faire a l'ancienne - doing it the old way" (Kaplan 1996: 6). This was a statement of French bakers and
bread eaters alike that the bread their bread must be of a specific quality to
be worth consuming.
Hearing my grandmother's
thoughts on the baguette; how it should look, feel, taste and smell, and that the bread should have the ability to
"hold until the end without losing any of its qualities," merely
proves the emphasis on quality that the French expect from their local boulangeries. Every baker tends to make his own version of
bread, yet tradition and "common criteria" dictate specific standards, such as the
ingredient list and the overall appearance.
The shape of
the baguette was something that only time and practice dictates. Some accounts say that the shape of the
baguette is due to the effects of hand shaping bread by bakers (Kaplan 1996:
7), this style and technique merely took on appreciation in practice throughout
the years. Perhaps it was formed this
way in an effort to fit more loaves into each bread oven? My grandmother also commented that there is a
legend that the baguette was a successor to a once popular bread invented
around the time of Napoleon's reign. It
is understandable that with so many bakers and so many boulangeries throughout
Paris, and France as well, there would be disparities among the histories of
how the baguette came to be. However one
main theme throughout French history and its culture is that bread has always
had an integral relationship in the way of life for millions of French over the
centuries.
The baguette
or French bread, whatever one might call it, has been historically a much
needed and much adored part to the French culture. Historically Catholic majorities in France
helped to solidify the symbolic nature of eating bread as a means of communion
with family, friends and Jesus Christ.
Bread, or rather the shortages of it and steeped prices, helped shape
the French Revolution (Kaplan 1996: 12-13) and helped pave the path to the
eventual pledge of France Liberté,
égalité, and fraternité! Bread is
integral to life, on every level for French, whether upper-class or
poverty-stricken, bread is that which binds all French across time and
space. As my grandmother would say, To
have a meal, without bread, is to not be French.
Works Cited:
*Bromfield,
Louis. Foodreference.com. "Bread
Food Quotes" (2010). http://www.foodreference.com/html/qbread.html
*Doyle,
William. (1989)The oxford history of the
French Revolution. New York: Oxford
University Press.
*Moore,
H.B. (1957) "The meaning of food" The American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition Jan-Feb. 5(1) pp. 77-82.
*Ministère
des affaires étrangères et Européennes. (2008). La
France et la loupe: Religions in France. République Française. Retrieved from: http://ambafrance-se.org/france_suede/IMG/pdf/religions_anglais.pdf
*Peer, Shanny. (1998) France on display: peasants, provincials,
and folklore in the 1937 Paris world's fair. New York: State University of New York Press.
*Zweig, Stefan. (2002) Marie Antoinette: The portrait of an average
woman. New York: Grove Press.
love it!
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