Ikonies, Frankryk 1

Pas aangekom in Parys, verneem ons dat UNESCO 'n kutuurerfenis-erkenning aan die Franse baguette toeken.  Ons vereenselwig dadelik daarmee; dié daaglikse brood is immers ons stapelvoedsel.  Ons verken verskeie boulangeries en gee punte aan die langbrood.  Gou word vasgestel dat die effens duurder item (normaalweg tussen 1.2 euro en 1.6 euro) baie beter smaak vars uit die boulangerie as dié wat by kettingwinkels/supermarkte aangetref word. 

Sommige is dun met 'n ekstra harde kors; ander weer het 'n bietjie meer om die lyf en meesal is hul bedek met 'n onverwagse soutkorrel of twee.  Ordentlike soutkristalle wat heerlik gaan met die gesoute botter: selle la mer.  Botter en brood voorwaar 'n heerlike ete!  Maar moenie die fout maak om die broodjie oor te laat vir die volgende oggend se ontbyt nie - tensy jy hunker na egte boerbeskuit wat slegs in koffie tot eetbaar gedoop kan word!  Die baguette is 'n eendagwonder wat geen tweederangse happie duld nie.

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/french-baguette-gets-unesco-recognition/6856934.html

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/30/1139920888/france-baguette-unesco-cultural-heritage

https://www.brusselstimes.com/330027/french-baguette-awarded-unesco-heritage-status

Paris-based UN heritage body UNESCO voted to include the “artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread” on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which already includes around 600 traditions from over 130 countries.

The listing “celebrates the French way of life: the baguette is a daily ritual, a structuring element of the meal, synonymous with sharing and conviviality,” said UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay.

The baguette is traditionally made with a light, yeasty dough which is kneaded and folded, then has the surface slashed before being baked in an oven with baguette-shaped moulds. In addition, baguettes can only be made with flour, salt, water and yeast, and must be between 65cm and 1 metre long. In addition, it must be baked on the premises where it is sold.

Heelwat mites en volkslegendes vergesel dié alledaagse nederige noodsaaklikheid, byvoorbeeld:

It may have been invented by an Austrian.  Nobody is entirely sure who invented the modern-day baguette. However, it has been suggested that the man who invented the croissant, a Viennese officer-turned-baker named August Zang, who also introduced the city to pain viennois and the croissant.

It is said that Zang facilitated the invention of the baguette by installing France’s first steam oven in Paris in 1839. The steam oven made it possible to bake loaves with a crisp crust and fluffy centre, because the steam allowed the crust to expand.

One legend has it that the baguette’s invention was orchestrated by Napoleon Bonaparte, who decreed that bread should be made in long, thin sticks to best fit in soldiers’ pockets.

Another popular myth states that when work began on the Paris Metro in 1898, labourers were brought from across France to work on the project. However, owing to violent arguments between the different groups of men, bakers were asked to create a bread that could be torn, rather than cut, so that knives – and their potential for violence – could be outlawed.

Ek gaan speel 'n bietjie op Midjourney met die trefwoorde: baguette, Van Gogh, impressionism, French, icon. Die resultaat verskyn langsaan.  Nou bly die vraag net: is dit kuns, wat is kuns en waar mag sodanige kuns tentoongestel word. Of geld Picasso se aanhaling hier ook: "a good artist copy; a great artist steal"?

Met 'n paar baguettes agter die blad, spreek ek mee:

Baguette UNESCO se verklaring oor die ikoniese Franse cliché verg deeglike besinning. Dié welbekende statue word daagliks vars uitgestal in hoekwinkel en boulangerie. Die oscar in ‘n papiersak, jan en alleman se metgesel op bus, metro en straat. Gerugte oor die langbrood se ontstaan word stellig in die media aangetoon: skynbaar het ‘n weergawe ook uit Oostenryk verrys. Geregverdigde vorstelike ondertrou is immers in dié geweste geensins ongewoon. Dié eeuelange tradisie en korswel ten spyt maak die skraal broodjie korte mette met enige aptyt. - Gerhard Barkhuizen © 2023

Baguette The UNESCO declaration on the iconic Frence cliché asks for well kneaded thought. This well-known statue as a daily exhibition freshly at the corner shop and boulangerie. The oscar clothed in paper for Tom, Dick and Harry on the bus, metro and street. Rumours on the longbread’s origin quickly in the media revealed: the possibility of a version raised in nearby Austria. Justified regal intermarriage is indeed in these parts definitely not uncommon. Centuries of tradition and jokes despite, at each meal the skinny bread dispose of every appetite. - Gerhard Barkhuizen © 2023

Die vertaling word genoodsaak met die oog op 'n Open Studio uitstalling geskeduleer vir 18 Januarie 2023, sodat van die materiaal vir meer mense toeganklik kan wees.