Baguettes

The Baguettes are thin loaves of bread that are very popular in France. They are made of white bread and usually have a hard crust on the outside but soft white bread on the inside. Grain and bread riots were extremely common up until the French Revolution, and sometimes spilled out across entire regions. The riots resulted in the fall of the Bastille on July 14th 1789 and helped start the French Revolution as a search for grains. Peasants suspected that there had been grain hoarding and expecting of higher prices, and took to the streets in protest. In the early stages of the Revolution rising bread prices were a major concern, the new government had a quick to respond to complaints about prices or accusations of hoarding. They were right to be worried about what the people might do if they could not get access to bread. These bread riots help to make the revolution dangerous. The creator of Baguettes is unknown.

Baguettes are generally made as loaves, with the loaf formed with a series of folding and rolling motions, raised in cloth-lined baskets or in rows on a flour-impregnated towel, called a couche and baked either directly on the hearth of a deck oven or in special perforated pans designed to hold the shape of the baguette while allowing heat through the perforations. American-style "French bread" is generally much fatter and is not baked in deck ovens, but in convection ovens. French-style recipes can be different, with some recipes adding small amounts of milk, butter, sugar, or malt extract, depending on the flavour in the final loaf.

Baguettes are usually found in any bread shop but a very well known shop is the Paris Baguette that sells french pastries, bread, cakes, sandwiches, tea, and coffee.