Knight
I took one year of French in high school where, due to my lack of self-discipline when it came to practice and studying, I did not do well, to put it mildly.
Starting college, I was advised to accumulate credits in a foreign language. I thought — hoped — some French might come back to me, but many other things at the time occupied my mind. Sure, I stumbled through the classes and some of it stuck, but not much. And although I have never been a stellar student of the language, I have never lost my fascination for all things French.
I remember this now because I just read that The United Nations has named the French baguette for special honors. In point of fact, UNESCO, a specialized agency of The UN which has its own specialized agency called the “Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Culture Heritage” recently added the “artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread” to its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
According to Wikipedia, UNESCO was founded in 1945 “to promote peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture.” Its founding mission is to “advance peace, sustainable development and human rights” by facilitating cooperation among nations. It is headquartered in Paris.
One specific charge of the agency is to preserve regional and cultural history and promote cultural diversity. UNESCO works to establish and secure World Heritage Sites. The Great Pyramids of Giza, the Cave Painting in Southern France, Easter Island and the Grand Canyon are just some examples of the 1,154 World Heritage properties across the globe.
In addition to the sites and properties named as the “Tangible Cultural Heritage” of our world, UNESCO develops a list of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage” of a particular place. This heritage consists of what is described as “non-physical wealth such as folklore, customs, beliefs, traditions, knowledge and language.”
According to UNESCO, the traditional process of making French Baguettes—“the measuring of ingredients, the kneading, fermentation, dividing, relaxing, manually shaping, the second fermentation, the marking of the dough with shallow cuts” are one part of the reason for the baguette’s designation as a Cultural Heritage.
Another part are the traditions developed around the baguette and its place in French culture. The baguette, as UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay tells us, “celebrates the French way of life. The baguette is a daily ritual, a structuring element of the meal, synonymous with sharing and conviviality.”
Some years after I tried to learn French, I had the chance to visit France. I have been back several times since experiencing its many different regions. Each part seems to have its own cultural peculiarities but at least one thing is pretty consistent across the country: From Paris to the Alps to the Mediterranean coast the baguette is part of daily life.
Every city town or village has its boulangerie (I can remember the French word for bread bakery) and to walk inside is to be enveloped in the joyous aromas of fresh baked goods. It is easy to linger longer than I planned. Once, when I was staying with a local family at their farmhouse, the femme de la Maison mentioned to one of her sons that included in the afternoon’s errands was to pick up some bread. It is part of everyone’s daily ritual.
It makes me hopeful to know many nations of the world have come together to agree that some places on Earth well as some of our cultural traditions need to be acknowledged, protected and preserved. It’s like we humans can at least agree that some things matter more than the borders and walls and divisions we construct around ourselves.
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
