Upper crust: The baguette gets UNESCO heritage status

The crunchy ambassador for French baking is being added to the U.N.’s list of intangible cultural heritage to be preserved by humanity.

The humble baguette — the crunchy ambassador for French baking around the world — is being added to the U.N.’s list of intangible cultural heritage as a cherished tradition to be preserved by humanity.

UNESCO experts gathering in Morocco this week decided that the simple French flute — made only of flour, water, salt, and yeast — deserved United Nations recognition, after France’s culture ministry warned of a “continuous decline” in the number of traditional bakeries, with some 400 closing every year over the past half-century.

The U.N. cultural agency’s chief, Audrey Azoulay, said the decision honours more than just bread; it recognizes the “savoir-faire of artisanal bakers” and “a daily ritual.”

“It is important that such craft knowledge and social practices can continue to exist in the future,” added Azoulay, a former French culture minister.

The agency defines intangible cultural heritage as “traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants.”

With the bread’s new status, the French government said it planned to create an artisanal baguette day, called the “Open Bakehouse Day,” to connect the French better with their heritage.

Back in France, bakers seemed proud, if unsurprised.

“Of course, it should be on the list because the baguette symbolizes the world. It’s universal,” said Asma Farhat, baker at Julien’s Bakery near Paris’ Champs-Elysees avenue.