Day 15 Une Baguette, s'il vous plait.

In pre-agricultural days it was a man’s job to go out early and hunt for the family so that they would have food to eat for breakfast. Richard’s early morning task in Paris is slightly easier. He dons his warm weather gear and walks down the street to one of the three possible boulangeries (we take it in turns) to buy our breakfast. Each day he has the following conversation.

‘Bonjour (Hello) Une Baguette, s'il vous plaît, (one baguette please – pointing just in case the lady is confused) Merci (thank you) Au Revoir (Good-bye)’. With the exchange of one euro Richard is on his way home with his one metre long bread stick.

The baguette was originally created in Paris but has since spread throughout France and to many other parts of the world. However please don’t think that the French bread stick you buy at Bakers Delight in Sydney (which, for some reason, was always referred to as a husband beater by Richard’s family when he was growing up) bears any resemblance with the bread we are eating in Paris. The baguette here is just superb. It is crisp on the outside but on the inside it is incredibly light and fluffy. It provides lasting rewards to the eater as this exquisite bread is designed to be munched slowly. It is not dry like much of the rubbish bread in Australia. It is moist, firm and chewed without any jaw ache. It is perfect on its own, but even more perfect with butter, jam or a slice of tomato. It is beyond perfection with a smear of Camembert cheese, which is so cheap here that you can use it like butter.

30 million baguettes are consumed in France each day – one for every two people. We have been doing our best to keep up the national averages. For the French croissants are a weekend or special occasion food – the baguette is to be eaten every day. We give thanks to the Lord who has answered our prayer in a way that delivers such gastronomical joy - give us this day our daily bread.