A baguette of bread or simply baguette, sometimes called baguette de Paris, or Parisienne (in Lorraine) or French bread (Belgicisme and Québécisme), but also baguette is a variety of bread, recognizable by its elongated shape.
 

Although this form of bread is emblematic of France, the baguette is also consumed in various countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Vietnam or Cambodia, which is explained by the French colonial past of these regions. In September 2018, the National Confederation of French Bakery and Pastry reformulated its wish to see the baguette of bread inscribed in the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO, the application is currently underway. «Artisanal know-how and the culture of the baguette de pain» have been listed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory in France since 23 November 20182.
 

History
 

No academic study has been written on the history of the baguette as a type of bread, much of its history is speculative. However, certain facts can be established. Among these, the growing popularity of stick-shaped long breads in France from the eighteenth century onwards. The shape of these fancy breads, in baguette of nearly two meters, already astonished visitors in France in the nineteenth century. However, the precise origin is not known.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the French bakery evolved with the use of «oatmeal», a highly refined Hungarian flour, and the introduction of Viennese steam oven cooking in Paris in 1839 by August Zang. At the World Fair in 1867, Adolf Ignaz Mautner von Markhof introduced the Austrian compact yeast in Paris. While none of these events are in themselves definable as the “invention of the baguette”, each of them, shape, flour, fermentation and steaming contribute to what is now known as a “baguette”.
 

However, the term "baguette" (in the sense of a fancy loaf) did not appear in literature until the 20th century. We see the term appear in a 1902 patent of invention where the manufacture of baguettes is exposed; the «baguette» is mentioned in a regime prescription in 1910; and the baguette is the subject of a normative regulation by the prefecture of the department of the Seine in August 1920: «The baguette, having a minimum weight of 80 g and a maximum length of 40 cm, cannot be sold at a price greater than 0 franc 35 cents each».
 

Legendary origins
 

It is said that it owes its origin to the Napoleonic campaigns: the loaves were until then round for better conservation. This form was invented by the bakers of Napoleon I in order to make the bread more easily transportable by the soldiers, in a pocket of the Basques at the back of their habit, and not in their trousers along their leg as is often heard, which would have embarrassed the soldier during his day of walking and probably would have damaged the baguette much more.

Another theory is that this style of bread — Viennese bread, which can be long but also oval in shape — was invented in Vienna and imported into France during the 19th century (in 1839, at the Viennese Bakery, founded by August Zang). The baguette would have developed in Paris in the 1920s, because it required less lifting and cooking time than traditional breads.
Indeed, it would be as a result of a law prohibiting bakers from working before 4 o'clock in the morning, which did not leave time to prepare the traditional ball. There is also a lack of evidence on this version.
 

Another origin, rarely mentioned, is in the construction of the metro in Paris. Indeed, the engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe, who supervised the construction of the metro, had problems with quarrels in the galleries between workers of different origins (notably Bretons, Auvergnats, etc.). Now, at that time, the worker always carried a knife on him, to cut the slices of bread, which were big round loaves. Also, a baker would have been asked to create a loaf of elongated shape (to respect the regulated weight of a loaf), which could cut, break without a knife, thus avoiding that these potential weapons go down in the galleries. Hence, for some purists, the fact of never cutting the chopstick with a knife, but of breaking it by hand. Thus, would have been created the baguette at the end of the 19th century. This version remains the most substantiated in view of the various documents from the metro site.

An article on the contest for the best baguette in Paris claims that the baguette was invented in 1830: “The “traditional” baguette, although invented in 1830, was only officially recognized in 1993 by the famous “bread decree” of the Balladur government, which aimed to give a new impetus to the artisanal bakery then subject to the “unfair” competition of supermarkets.” But no other source gives this date and the «tradition» baguette does not seem to correspond to a specific traditional bread.
 

Consumerism
 

The French consume about 30 million baguettes every day, mostly produced by artisans. In 2011, in France, 59.8% of flour destined for bread-making was converted into bread by the artisan bakery (32,000 companies), 32.1% by the industrial bakery (270 companies), 8.9% by the bakery workshops, pastry in large supermarkets, and only 0.1% by the public sector (especially armed forces).
 

The baguette is used to form submarine type sandwiches
 

It is also used to form sandwiches. In France, it is not uncommon to spread a piece of bread baguette with butter and jam at breakfast, or even to soak the prepared tartine in a bowl of coffee or chocolate.
A baguette can also be served as an accompaniment, typically with pâté or cheese.