Tharshan Selvarajah, a baker in the twentieth arrondissement of Paris, won Wednesday the Grand Prix for the best baguette of the capital, which celebrates its 30th anniversary after the inscription of this French symbol in the intangible heritage of humanity. This baker, whose business "Au levain des Pyrénées" is located not far from the Place de la Nation, was chosen by a jury, among 175 candidates, at the end of a whole afternoon spent having a snack.
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Mr. Selvarajah obtains, in addition to a reward of 4,000 euros and "a reputation that goes far beyond the borders of Paris", the right to provide the Elysee "according to its production capacity," recalled Olivia Polski, deputy to the trade at the mayor of Paris which organizes each year the competition, in partnership with the union of bakers-pastry chefs of Greater Paris. This privilege is therefore "not an obligation", the winner can be based far from the residence of the head of state, says Franck Thomasse, the president of the union. In any case, the winner "multiplies at least by two his production of chopsticks, plus the rest," says Mr. Thomasse.
The pursuit of excellence among many candidates
Out of 1,122 bakers registered in Paris, 175, or more than 10%, tried their luck by depositing their baguette at the prestigious headquarters of the union located on the Ile Saint-Louis. Each wand was encircled with a ring with a number to ensure the anonymization of the candidates. Divided into three groups for a two-round ballot, the fifteen members of the jury, including six Parisians drawn at random, each tasted the trifle of 62 baguettes. "Do not drink during the early stages of the tasting, because you will not last until the end," warned Olivia Polski before going to the table. The chopsticks received a score for each of the following five criteria: cooking, taste, crumb, honeycomb and appearance. They had to be between 50 and 55 cm long, weigh between 250 and 270 grams and have a salt content of 18 grams per kilo of flour.
Classified at the end of November as an intangible heritage site by UNESCO, the French bread baguette is also an "element of everyday life" and an "extremely accessible product for everyone," said Olivia Polski. With its crispy crust and soft crumb, the baguette, which appeared in the early twentieth century in Paris, is today the first bread consumed in the country. Every day, twelve million French consumers push the door of a bakery and more than six billion baguettes leave the bakeries each year.