The competition is regularly organized by Paris City Hall in cooperation with the city’s Syndicate of Bakers and Confectioners. The jury evaluates performances according to five strict criteria: taste, baking, pastry structure, crumbliness and appearance. According to BFM TV, the basic requirement is that the baguette weighs something between 250 and 270 grams and is 50 to 55 centimeters long.
Among the 172 applicants, according to the jury’s verdict from last week, Mr. Netry, who has been devoting himself to his craft for a quarter of a century, prevailed. “I’m very satisfied. After 25 years of work, it’s great,” he says with satisfaction that he didn’t sleep the whole day after the results were announced.
Nevertheless, he takes the title of the best baguette maker in Paris with humility. “We’ll see what awaits us. We’re probably not quite ready yet,” he added, alluding to the fact that the products from his workshop will go to the kitchen of the Elysee Palace.
The jury that evaluated the performance of the bakers consisted of representatives of the baking industry, journalists, the deputy mayor of Paris and six Parisians who were randomly selected by the town hall. The organizers donated the baked goods that were not eaten during the competition to charity.
Although French baguettes are made from the same four ingredients—flour, water, salt, and yeast—each manufacturer’s pastry is unique. “Every baker has his secret, whether it’s the choice of flour or the fermentation process. And yeast dough can contain unexpected ingredients to enrich the taste, such as orange or grape juice,” explained Adeline Chazelle from the Syndicate of Bakers and Confectioners.
Bonus 4000 euros
Mr. Netry has to wait until May 7 for the ceremony where the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, crowns him the imaginary “king of Parisian bakers”. The same applies to the prize for the winner, which amounts to 4,000 euros (100,800 CZK). But the Utopia bakery can already be happy about one thing. Immediately after the announcement of the results of the competition, queues began to form in front of it.
The French baguette made it to the UNESCO cultural heritage list
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