The news from France this week is all about the 2024 Olympics.But there’s another huge story, on the food beat, that really needs to be told. The French are declaring their undying love for the classic baguette with a commemorative stamp…
Yes, folks still send stuff by snail mail. And not all of them are companies bombarding you with bills and legal notices. And the French government has made the momentous decision to honour the beloved Baguette with its own postage stamp.
Ancient wisdom
There’s an old saying, that you have to be royalty – or dead – to get your mug on a stamp. Historical events and national monuments are also honoured. The baguette does qualify in the latter category. The Classic Baguette more than qualifies since it was declared a world cultural treasure by the UN back in 2022. And the French, henceforth, enshrined in law the recipe and technique for making said classic.
Not only is France releasing the Baguette stamp as part of the Olympic celebrations, it’s made the lickable work of art even more sensual. It is, in fact, the country’s first scratch and sniff stamp. Really. Baguette boosters obviously believe the unique scent of their ‘baby’ will convert any doubter to believer.
History and heritage
The Baguette holds a special place in the lives and culture of the French. it’s claimed that every French person who is able to east solid food consumes at least a little – or a lot – of the classic crusty bread every single day.
Baguette consumption is reported to have declined in recent years. Mon dieu! But French bakers still produce an estimated 16 million per day — or nearly 6 billion a year.
And the stamp’s ‘sniff’?
“Our yeast is gentle,” says Jeanne Barrere, manager of the Leonie Bakery near Paris’s boulevard Champs-Elysees told Reuters. “This smells more like vanilla.”
Barrere’s chief baker Harlem Gbodialo said the stamp boasts a ‘sugary, fruity aroma’ like fermenting dough.
I guess you’ll have to scratch a fresh Baguette stamp to find out for yourself…
My take
Legend has it, the baguette was ‘designed’, by bakers in Napoleon’s Grand Armée, to be quick to produce and easy for the troops to carry with them. But everybody loved it. If it were created today, you’d say it ‘went viral’. And it’s been a universal French staple for more than 100 years. That, alone, is reason enough to celebrate the baguette with a postage stamp all its own…
~ Maggie J.