Among the cities formerly very famous for the quality of their brioches are Gisors and Gournay, probably because of the excellence of the butter in this region (Normandy). Baguette, the hard crusty loaf we currently associate with France dates only to the Industrial Revolution. A baguette is about 5-6 cm wide, 3 to 4 cm high, and about 65 cm long. A History of Bread in America. In most French families, buying bread is a daily task. Introduction: English. Widely recognized as a leading expert on French bread, the historian Steven Laurence Kaplan takes readers into aromatic Parisian bakeries as he explains how good bread began to reappear in France in the 1990s, following almost a century of decline in quality. If bread supplies ran short, or the quality was bad, riots resulted. Food historians tell us bread was "invented" in 10,000BC. Good Bread Is Back . Techniques spread throughout the world and evolved according to custom, cuisine, and local grain. In fact one very common form of bread in France in the 19th century was round (boule) hence the baker being a boulonger and it remained so well into the 20th century surprisingly enough. French bread (generally defined as bread made in France) is thousands of years old. The French bread you are used to, however, has not been eaten in France since time immemorial as you might think. Bread so enormously important to the French people, that at the time of the French Revolution in the late 1700’s, the average Frenchman was reported to have eaten three pounds a day of bread. The French traditional baguette is much nicer eaten fresh, sometimes when it's still warm, which is why most French people visit their local bakery at least once a day. But bread has also played a dark role in French history and, namely, the French Revolution. Marne Stetton. 37 Best Asian Appetizers and Finger Foods. Up until about 1800 French peasants ate bread made from wheat, rye or buckwheat. A Brief History of the French Baguette. The baguette is still the most popular form of bread, but several others are available. In 1788 and 1789, speculation in the movement, storage and sale of grains combined with adverse weather conditions led to a severe bread shortage throughout France. The Evolution and History of French Bread. In southern France near Avignon was a quiet village on the Rhone called Pont Saint-Esprit where two bakeries tended to the inhabitants’ daily need for bread… Until the day the Bastille was stormed in 1789, 70 percent of French citizens were peasants and poor farmers whose diets were based mainly on grains. It is common to dip the bread into olive oil when it is eaten. Bonus Facts: In Scotland, French toast is traditionally served with sausage between two slices of French toast, eaten as a sandwich. But it is known by a variety of names including German toast, eggy bread, French-fried bread, gypsy toast, Poor Knights of Windsor, Spanish toast, nun’s toast, and pain perdu which means “lost bread” in French.