A baguette (French: stick) is a variety of bread distinguishable by its much greater length than width. A standard baguette is five or six centimeters wide and three or four centimeters tall, but can be up to a meter in length. It is also known in English as a French stick or a French loaf.
Shorter baguettes are very often used for sandwiches. These sandwich-sized loafs are sometimes known as demi-baguettes or tiers. Baguettes can also be sliced and are often served with pâté or cheeses. As part of the traditional continental breakfast in France, slices of baguette are spread with jam and dunked in bowls of coffee or hot chocolate.
Baguettes are noted for their very crispy crust.
Baguettes are seen as closely connected to France and especially to Paris, even though they are by far not the only kind of French bread. They are, however, available around the world.
In France, it is to be noted that not all long loaves are baguettes — for example, a standard thicker stick is a pain and a thinner loaf is a ficelle. It is also to be noted that French food laws are very strict, and define bread as a product containing only the following four ingredients: water, flour, yeast, and salt. The addition of any other ingredient to the basic recipe requires the baker to use a different name for the final product.
The French government recently codified into law a specific type of baguette, the "baguette de tradition", which can only be made using the original, pre-modern methods. This classification was the result of the tireless efforts of historian Steven Kaplan, who specializes in the history of French bread from 1700 - 1770. Kaplan called upon the French to reject the modern baguette - which he denounced as a "tastless, odorless monstrosity" - in favor of the richer original. The key, Kaplan's research suggested, is the 18th century practice of allowing the yeast to develop overnight, which results in a baguette with a cream-colored interior (rather than the familiar white) and a much more pronounced flavor and smell which puts the modern baguette to shame. The French have enthusiastically adopted Kaplan's recommendations, and he was twice knighted by a grateful French government. (Article on Kaplan's Baguette Revolution)
Learners of French are sometimes surprised to discover that baguette refers to many kinds of stick-like objects, including baguette magique ("wand") and baguettes chinoises ("chopsticks").
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