Concours de la meilleure baguette de Paris

  1. Home
  2. Wiki
A jury member sits with his nose pressed up on a baguette, smelling it. Behind him is a banner of La Boulangerie de Paris.
A member of the 2004 jury examines baguettes

The Concours de la meilleure baguette de Paris is an annual competition to determine the best baguette in Paris. Its official name is Grand prix de la baguette de tradition française de la ville de Paris (transl. Grand Prix of the French traditional baguette of the city of Paris). First held in 1994, the competition is organized by the city of Paris in collaboration with the Confédération nationale de la boulangerie-pâtisserie française (National Confederation of French Bakeries and Patisseries).[1] The winner receives a medal and a prize of 4,000 euros.[2] The bakery is given the honor of becoming a supplier to the Élysée, the official residence of the President of France, for one year.[3]

History

[edit]

The competition has been organized by the Paris City Hall every year since 1994.[4] It takes place on the premises of the Professional Chamber of Baker-Pastry Craftsmen, on the Île Saint-Louis.[5] The jury of 15 members is made up of professionals, food journalists, and since 2020, six Parisians drawn by a lottery.[6][7]

Competition process

[edit]

To be eligible for the prize, baguettes must measure between 55–65 cm (22–26 in), weigh between 250–300 g (8.8–10.6 oz) and have a salt content of a level of 18 grams per kilogram (0.29 oz/lb) of flour. Many of the baguettes fail to meet this standard and are immediately disqualified. Those that qualify are spread across three tables at which members of the jury are seated. The baguettes are numbered to guarantee anonymity. The selection criteria are "doneness", "crumb", "taste", "smell" and "appearance".[8] These qualities are scored between 0 and 4.[8] The ten best are determined from each table for a total of 30. In the second round, the members of each table judge the 10 selected by the other two groups of jurors. From this final tasting, a winner is selected.[8]

Prize

[edit]

In addition to a medal and a prize of €4,000, the winner becomes a supplier to the Élysée for one year. Winners also benefit from recognition allowing them to increase turnover, with some seeing between a 15 to 25 percent increase in sales volume[6] and some bakeries gaining international renown.[8][9]

List of winners

[edit]
  • 1994: René Saint-Ouen[10]
  • 1995: Jean-Noël Julien[10]
  • 1996: Philippe Gosselin[11]
  • 1997: René Saint-Ouen[10]
  • 1998: Antonio Teixeira[10]
  • 1999: Stéphane Pouget[12]
  • 2000: Raoul Maeder[13]
  • 2001: Pierre Demoncy[14]
  • 2002: Raoul Maeder[15]
  • 2003: Laurent Connan[16]
  • 2004: Pierre Thilloux[17]
  • 2005: Eric Sanna[18]
  • 2006: Jean-Pierre Cohier[19]
  • 2007: Arnaud Delmontel[20]
  • 2008: Anis Bouabsa[5]
  • 2009: Franck Tobarel[5]
  • 2010: Djibril Bodian[5]
  • 2011: Pascal Barillon[18]
  • 2012: Sébastien Mauvieux[5]
  • 2013: Ridha Khadher[9]
  • 2014: Antonio Teixeira[21]
  • 2015: Djibril Bodian[22]
  • 2016: Michael Reydelet and Florian Charles[23]
  • 2017: Sami Bouattour[24]
  • 2018: Mahmoud M’seddi[25]
  • 2019: Fabrice Leroy[26]
  • 2020: Taieb Sahal[27]
  • 2021: Makram Akrout[28]
  • 2022: Damien Dedun[29]
  • 2023: Tharshan Selvarajah[30]
  • 2024: Xavier Netry[31]
  • 2025: Mickaël Reydellet[32]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "A la découverte du Concours de la meilleure baguette de Paris". club-sandwich.net (in French). 11 March 2020.
  2. ^ "La meilleure baguette de Paris 2025 se déguste dans le 10e arrondissement !". paris.fr. 28 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Le prix 2024 de la meilleure baguette de Paris a été décerné, voici où la trouver". 26 April 2024.
  4. ^ "The perfect French baguette". BBC News. August 26, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e "La meilleure baguette de Paris 2012 est (encore) dans le XVIIIe" [The best baguette in Paris 2012 is (still) in the 18th arrondissement] (in French). L'Express. 3 May 2012.
  6. ^ a b Moroz, Sarah (April 20, 2015). "Inside the Official Competition to Determine the Best Baguette in Paris". Grub Street.
  7. ^ "Goûtez et choisissez la meilleure baguette de Paris! - Ville de Paris". paris.fr (in French). 3 September 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Bourdeau, Maxime (26 April 2013). "Dans les coulisses de l'élection de la meilleure baguette de Paris" [Behind the scenes of the election of the best baguette in Paris]. HuffPost (in French).
  9. ^ a b "Histoires de diasporas : Ridha Khadher, un boulanger tunisien à l'Élysée". France 24 (in French). 15 June 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d Camus, Jean (December 5, 2021). "La meilleure baguette de Paris - Das beste Baguette von Paris" (in German).
  11. ^ Enfrun, Lila (June 1, 2024). "Maison Gosselin, une histoire de famille". Les Nouvelles de la Boulangerie.
  12. ^ Sicakyuz, Achrene (October 13, 1999). "Beyond Baguettes". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ^ Levent, Christophe (March 14, 2002). "La meilleure baguette de père en fils". Le Parisien (in French).
  14. ^ "La meilleure baguette est faite à Belleville". Le Parisien (in French). March 2, 2001.
  15. ^ A.-S. D. (January 7, 2004). "Raoul Maeder sacré roi de la galette". Le Parisien (in French).
  16. ^ Le Mitouard, Eric (February 4, 2003). "Il fait la meilleure baguette de Paris 2003". Le Parisien (in French).
  17. ^ "Baguette war as pride of Paris takes on the supermarkets". The Daily Telegraph. February 7, 2004.
  18. ^ a b "Meilleure baguette de Paris". Blog le Boulanger Parisien (in French). 14 January 2021.
  19. ^ "La sweet scent des baguettes". Australian Financial Review. May 5, 2006.
  20. ^ "A Baguette Fit for A President?". The New York Times. June 28, 2007.
  21. ^ "En 2014, la meilleure baguette de Paris reste dans le XIVe" (in French). Le Figaro. 13 March 2014.
  22. ^ Ruitenberg, Rudy (March 27, 2015). "Hollande Gets Crispy Crust as Paris Picks City's Best Baguette". Bloomberg News.
  23. ^ "La meilleure baguette de Paris de retour rive gauche" (in French). Le Figaro. 18 March 2016.
  24. ^ Allain, Xavier (4 May 2017). "La meilleure baguette de Paris s'achète Rue de Tolbiac". BFM TV.
  25. ^ "Mahmoud M'seddi, lauréat de la meilleure baguette parisienne" [Mahmoud M'seddi, winner of the best Parisian baguette]. Le Parisien (in French). 12 April 2018.
  26. ^ "Paris: la meilleure baguette 2019 est celle de Fabrice Leroy" [Paris: The best baguette of 2019 is that of Fabrice Leroy]. Le Parisien (in French). 17 April 2019.
  27. ^ "La meilleure baguette de Paris 2020 se trouve dans le 17e arrondissement" [The best baguette in Paris 2020 is in the 17th arrondissement]. paris.fr (in French). 6 March 2020.
  28. ^ "Paris: Makram Akrout, boulanger dans le XIIe arrondissement, remporte le prix de la meilleure baguette de Paris" [Paris: Makram Akrout, baker in the 12th arrondissement, wins the prize for the best baguette in Paris]. 20 minutes (in French). 24 September 2021.
  29. ^ "Paris: La meilleure baguette tradition se trouve rue Cambronne" [Paris: The best traditional baguette is on rue Cambronne]. 20 minutes (in French). 13 May 2022.
  30. ^ "Un boulanger de l'Est parisien remporte le prix de « la meilleure baguette de Paris »" [A baker from eastern Paris wins the prize for "the best baguette in Paris"]. Le Monde (in French). 10 May 2023.
  31. ^ "Le prix de la meilleure baguette de Paris remis à une boulangerie du 11e arrondissement" [The prize for the best baguette in Paris goes to a bakery in the 11th arrondissement]. France Info (in French). 25 April 2014.
  32. ^ "La meilleure baguette de Paris 2025 se déguste dans le 10e arrondissement !" [The best baguette in Paris 2025 can be enjoyed in the 10th arrondissement!]. paris.fr (in French). 28 March 2025.
[edit]
  • Media related to Concours de la meilleure baguette de Paris at Wikimedia Commons