Paris has a new king of the crusty baguette.
Baker Xavier Netry was chosen this week as the 31st winner of Paris’s annual Grand Prix de la baguette prize.
His long loaf beat 172 others.
Competing baguettes were evaluated for taste, look, texture, airiness and the quality of the baking.
The jury included a deputy mayor, industry representatives, journalists and six Parisians that City Hall said were drawn at random.
The Utopie bakery in Paris’s 11th district that Mr Netry works for wins 4,000 euros (£3,427) and becomes one of the suppliers of the presidential Elysee Palace for a year.
City Hall said uneaten baguettes from the competition were donated to a charity that feeds people who are homeless.
Mr Netry, a baker for 25 years, said the secrets of his success are a good sourdough starter and “a good long fermentation”, careful cooking and “some love and some passion, of course”.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here