When it comes to long bread, French bread is the first thing most people think of. It is a distinctive bread with a fascinating story, so we have put together 5 interesting facts about French bread for you.
1. The Real Name of French Bread
French bread is actually called the baguette, which in French means "stick" or "baton". The name comes from the bread's hard crust and long shape, which resemble a stick or baton.
2. Why French Bread Is Long
Before the baguette, the French ate a bread called the boule, a large, round loaf shaped like a ball. Then in 1920, France introduced a law banning people from working before 4 a.m. Bakeries could no longer get their boules ready in time, because they took a long time to bake. So bakers changed the shape of the bread to bake it faster, making it long and slender to shorten the baking time. That bread eventually became the baguette, or French bread.
3. How People Used to Eat French Bread
In the past, the French ate the baguette as a staple food, getting through two a day: one in the morning, nibbled throughout the day, and another bought in the evening after work to take home. They ate it plain, or split it open and filled it with ham or butter.
4. French Bread Went to War
During France's colonial era, the country went to war often, and bread was the national staple at the time. Soldiers therefore carried baguettes as rations during campaigns. The baguette's shape made it easy to carry, slow to spoil and easy to share.
5. The Length of French Bread
The most obvious trademark of French bread is its length. A typical baguette is about 65 cm (26 in) long; as a rough guide, that is longer than two rulers. Its diameter is about 5–6 cm.
The longest French bread in the world, recorded by Guinness World Records, measured 122 metres. It was made by 20 French and Italian chefs plus 7 bakers, who worked on it for almost 7 hours following the traditional French recipe, and they broke the world record in October 2015.
