France kneads credit for its carbs.
The baguette was awarded special cultural protection by the United Nations Wednesday — joining the culinary ranks of the delicious Neapolitan pizza in Italy and Kimchi in Korea.
The country’s long crusty loaf was recognized as an “essential” part of French culture by UNESCO’s due to its generational “craftsmanship” and “artisanal know-how.”
“It’s kind of a way of life,” the organization’s director general, Audrey Azoulay, told CNN.
“There is always a boulangerie nearby, you can go and buy fresh affordable bread and you meet people, meet with bakers, it’s a very important element of social cohesion.”
It took six years for the country to collect and submit proper documentation to get its famous bread on the UN’s so-called Intangible Cultural Heritage list, she said.
“This will make people realize that this regular baguette that they know very well, is something precious,” Azoulay said. “It comes from history and it has character and it’s important to made the public aware of this, to be proud of it.”
Other regional foods that made the cultural heritage list include Belgian beer, the “Mediterranean diet” and Arabic coffee.
To meet the definition of a traditional baguette in France, a loaf must be made with just four ingredients — flour, water, salt and yeast — and made on site at a boulangerie.