The best is, at best, subjective, especially when it comes to food. Ask a person about the best bagels in NYC, the best fish tacos in Southern California, or the best BBQ in the South, and you’ll get a variety of answers. With bread, it’s not any different. In probably one of the most iconic food meccas of the world, Paris, the best baguette is hashed out in a battle of the breads.
Called the Le Grand Prix de la Baguette, the competition has some pretty specific requirements. To qualify for the competition, bakers’ baguettes have to be 50 to 55 centimeters in length, weigh between 250 to 270 grams, and have 18 grams of salt for every 1 kilogram of flour. Judges are then presented with the bread and rate it based on appearance, cooking, texture, taste, and smell.
This year, baker Xavier Netry, from the baker Utopie of Paris’ 11th district, won the competition, with his loaf beating 172 other competitors. The bakery wins a cash prize of 4,000 euros, a one-year contract to produce baguettes for the president of France at Élysée Palace, and the distinctive title of the best baguette in Paris.
Netry said that the key to his baguette’s success was based on a good sourdough starter and a long fermentation time. Getting the best baguette title, for a food that is now registered as a UNESCO “Intangible Cultural Heritage” is a great boost to distinguish oneself against some stiff competition in a famous food city.