National French Bread Day And Breadiquette in France

Last updated on March 22nd, 2024 at 10:42 pm

If you love French Bread, you’ll be pleased to know there is an entire day dedicated to this fabulous creation.

Yep, on March 21st every year, it is officially National French Bread Day. Although it’s not something we celebrate here in France, it’s more of an American tradition.

But being a blog all about France, it would be rude of me not to tell you about it. After all, it’s the perfect opportunity to bring a little bit of French culture into your life for the day. And who doesn’t want that?

Bread is such a big part of French life, so much so that French people shop for their bread twice a day because it absolutely has to be eaten fresh. 

The baguette you buy in the morning isn’t fresh enough for the evening meal. Not at a French dinner table. 

But how did this all start, and what is the obsession with French bread? Let’s dive in and discover what has everyone so enamoured.

The Importance of Bread in France

Bread in France has always been a staple part of the diet. In fact, in the 18th century, it was normal for the average person to spend half their wages on bread. They lived off it, and it was a big part of every, single meal. Not much has changed there.

It’s even thought that bread was responsible for the French Revolution. Who can forget poor Marie Antoinette’s famous quote when she heard the peasants were starving and had no bread, “Let them eat cake,” which we now know wasn’t her at all.

It was all down to the failure of the grain crops in 1788-89. This led to starvation and famine due to prices going sky-high and the lack of bread.

Hungry people aren’t happy people, and all this hunger and discontent led to the storming of the Bastille in July 1789 and the Revolution, which then followed.

The laws governing bakeries in Paris

The overthrowing of the French monarchy brought about a lot of change, and the powers that took charge swore there would never be another uprising like it.

The people of Paris should never be without bread, so in 1798, a rule was passed after Denis François, a baker with a shop in the city, was mobbed by angry crowds for closing his boulangerie.

The law stated that “Richness and poverty must both disappear from the government of equality. It will no longer make a bread of wheat for the rich and a bread of bran for the poor.  All bakers will be held, under the penalty of  imprisonment, to make only one type of bread: The Bread of Equality.”

So, the closing of the boulangeries became strictly monitored. They were not allowed to holiday en masse, leaving the city without easy access to bread. 

The rules still apply today even though there have been amendments over the years. Out of the 1200+ boulangeries that provide Paris with their daily baguettes and croissants, they MUST take their holiday either in July or August.

In 1956, a law was passed entitling bakers in Paris to three weeks of holiday a year, and then in 1957, another law was passed which gave the control of opening hours to the town halls.

Then, in 1995, it was updated again to reflect the change to five weeks of holiday per annum instead of three. Now, boulangeries are split into two groups, those that go on holiday in July and those that go in August. Each year, it’s rotated to keep it fair.

“The aim is to make sure there is bread everywhere,” said Dominique Aract of the Paris Chamber of Professional Bakers. “We can’t expect people to have to jump in a car to go in search of a loaf of bread.”

Breaditquette And The Rules Surrounding French Bread

1. Bread is served with every meal, pretty much without fail. I’m yet to go to a French person’s house and not be served bread. And it should always be fresh. You never serve yesterday’s bread, and if possible, it should have been bought just a couple of hours before eating it. Most French boulangeries bake twice a day to make sure there is fresh bread for every meal, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner.
2. If you want to avoid a faux pas, don’t ask for butter with your bread, and remember to break your bread with your hands, not a knife. I still don’t understand why they don’t give you butter with your bread. But in every French restaurant I’ve been to, and I’ve been to a lot, I’ve only ever received a basket of bread, never anything to spread on it or dip it in. To me, that’s a waste, as I love a good spread of butter on my bread.
3. You won’t have a bread plate at a French table. Again, I find this bizarre, and it horrifies my mum when she comes over. But then she has a meltdown when we get paper napkins instead of material. In France, your bread sits directly on the table, not on a side plate. Maybe it’s because there is no butter, and you either eat it dry or use it to mop up a sauce.
4. You can buy a special bag for your baguette. Because of the long shape of a baguette, it’s hard to put one in a shopping bag. And whatever you do, don’t try and put a baguette directly into your bicycle basket like I did. I got halfway up the road, and the baguette sagged, broke in half and dropped onto the road. I was too mortified to pick it up, so I cycled home with half a baguette. Hence the need for a baguette bag. Mine is made of cotton and is long enough for the longest of baguettes. It’s great and hangs up in my kitchen once I get my baguette home.
5. In a restaurant, bread should be free. There is a law in France that if you serve food, that bread should be given for free as part of the meal. The same applies to tap water. And they stick to it. I’ve never been to a French restaurant where I wasn’t served bread with my meal, and I’ve never been charged for it.

The Origins of French Bread

Prehistoric Times: The story of bread in France begins with the ancient Gauls, who were making flatbreads from mixed cereals long before the Roman conquest. These early breads were simple, baked on hot stones or in ashes.

Middle Ages (5th-15th Century): Bread evolved during the Middle Ages, becoming a staple of the French diet. Bakers began to produce a variety of breads, including those made from barley and rye. The white bread of this era, a luxury item, was reserved for the upper classes.

17th & 18th Century: The introduction of the “levain” method, using a piece of dough kept from the previous batch (sourdough), revolutionised bread making. This technique allowed for lighter, airier bread and is a practice that continues in some traditional bakeries to this day.

The Rise of the Baguette

19th Century: The French Revolution brought about a demand for an equal quality of bread for all. Laws were enacted to regulate the production and distribution of bread, ensuring its affordability and quality across all classes. 

There are three different stories relating to where the baguette first originated from, and one of them is thought to be Napoleon, who asked for bread that his soldiers could easily carry whilst they were marching. According to a story, they slung the long sticks over their shoulder and carried them like guns. Is it true? Who knows, but I love a good Napoleon story,

It’s also said that bread began to be influenced by Viennese steam oven techniques introduced in the 1840s. These ovens allowed for a crustier loaf with a tender interior, characteristics that define the baguette.

1920: The baguette we know today became more defined in the 1920s when a rule was passed stating that bakers couldn’t bake between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am. It meant they needed to find a quicker way of getting the bread to rise due to the time restrictions placed on them, and so the modern-day baguette was born.

Final thoughts: Celebrating French Bread

French bread is famed throughout the world, and rightly so, as there is nothing better. It doesn’t have loads of preservatives and is much healthier than processed bread.

Two of my favourite French dishes, where bread is obligatory for mopping up the sauce, are Coq au Vin and my Dad’s favourite, Moules Frites.

My perfect day ends with bread, cheese and wine, and this is exactly how the French love it too.