A fresh batch of baguettes From the countryside to the city, the long bread made by hand is a familiar image in the daily life of the French people. The baguette has also been a creative inspiration for many artists and has gone into many works of art. From a foreign perspective, when it comes to France, in terms of cuisine, the baguette is probably one of the most intimate and simple symbols, next to countless types of wine, champagne or cheese. So when did baguettes in France come from? According to historian Steven Kaplan, up to now, in France, there are usually three anecdotes about the origin of baguette bread. It is said by many that the long bread was invented by the bakers of Emperor Napoleon in the early 19th century. Lighter and less bulky than the earlier round loaf, the long loaves were easily carried by soldiers. people. In another anecdote, baguettes originated in Austria and were brought to France by a Viennese baker named August Zang in 1839, and were originally sold in Paris as ovals. And finally, the baguette was invented on the Paris subway site in the 1900s, a time when workers from all over France flocked here, and there were often fights between Brittany and regional workers. Auvergne. To prevent workers from stabbing each other with knives, contractors are said to have asked bakers to make loaves of bread that are easy to break by hand rather than using a knife. However, those are just oral anecdotes. Historian Steven Kaplan asserts that the traditional baguette originated in the 20th century, stemming from a change in the dietary needs of urban people. The affluent class living in urban areas wanted to eat fresh bread many times a day, while the big, round breads weighing 1.2-2kg at that time were too big, they had to eat a few meals to finish. Moreover, people also prefer to eat the crust rather than the inside. For centuries before that, bread was made with sourdough, obtained by the natural fermentation of bacteria found in wheat. For the workers, the process of making cakes is very hard work. Steven Kaplan recounted, the baker at that time was likened to a “white miner”, working all night. Many consider it inhumane to let bakers work in such conditions, leading to a movement to find ways to reduce their hardship. By 1919, France had a law banning bakers from working at night. Therefore, the craftsmen have come up with a simpler way to make bread and shape the long, thin baguette to bake the cake faster. And so the baguette was born. According to the National Federation of French Bakery and Pastry Shops, 32,000 artisan bakeries with 180,000 employees earn about 11 billion EUR/year in revenue. However, the French Ministry of Culture said that the number of bakeries has dropped sharply in the past five decades due to competition from supermarkets with industrial, frozen bread. Many people hope that the French Ministry of Culture’s selection of baguettes to submit to UNESCO for nominations for the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity will contribute to preserving France’s artisanal bread production from the competition of the industrial production methods.

Customers buy bread at a shop on Phan Dinh Phung Street, Bien Hoa City. Photo: Huy Anh According to the document, French baguette bread appeared in Hanoi since the early 20th century. Hanoians call it “Western cake” because the cake is made by the French. People from other regions in the country call it “bread” because the baking ingredient is flour. The French baguette has many anecdotes about its origins. It is said that it was made by Napoleon’s baker in the 19th century instead of the previous round loaf for soldiers to carry conveniently. Another anecdote suggests that the baguette originated in Austria, and was introduced to France in 1839 in the form of an oval. There are also people who believe that in the 1890s, French workers in those two regions often fought and used bread knives (old type) as weapons, so the contractor made long bread. need a knife. The French historian Steven Kaplan explained that because the old bread was round, weighing over 1.2kg, it took a few days to finish, so people made baguettes more compact to break and eat during the day, and had a crust to help. delicious. On the other hand, making old-fashioned bread is very laborious and time-consuming, so the new type of cake helps less labor, and the baking time is also shorter. *** In those days, the baguette was long, so no one ate “one loaf” at one time. In addition to the shops, this type of long bread is peddled on the street by charies on motorbikes or bicycles carrying boxes of wheels and all sorts of “spare parts” behind the car. The wheelie box is usually closed in aluminum in an inverted U shape, with a lid, placed on the “boggage” of the vehicle. When stopping to sell, the car is erected with a solid footrest on the rear wheel. On the inverted U-shaped aluminum box, in addition to the loaves of bread, which are still intact or half-cut, are pork skin, chopped and thin roast pork, shumai, pork sausage, spring rolls, coriander, green onions, tomatoes , sliced ​​chili, soy sauce (soy sauce), pickles, sauces, salt and pepper… In 2021, the French Ministry of Culture submitted a dossier to UNESCO to nominate French baguettes as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Buyers can ask to cut the middle or top of the loaf for themselves. Depending on the purchase price, the loaf is cut into one-third or one-quarter length. The cut is usually a 30-45 degree diagonal to the cake body. Many people like to eat simple bread (but is considered to be luxurious) sandwiched with sausage or spring rolls, or fried eggs, pork rub… sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, add coriander stalks. Also a “luxury” with half or whole shumai sandwich with chili slices, chan shumai, can be sprayed with a little soy sauce for flavor. Another “luxury” class is bread with canned fish, usually sardines. If you are poor, you can eat bread with sauce, add a little soy sauce or maybe baguette. Normal and medium is bread filled with meat, tamarind. Street vendors are usually men, but rarely see women. They cut the cake, add the filling according to the customer’s request, before adding the sauce, they often ask “Can you remove the chili?”. Finally, they took a pre-cut piece of newspaper (or old school paper from the student) wrapped around the piece of cake, adding an elastic band to the outside. Receiving money, they always smile for the love of “God”, especially with the children on the way to school. Sweetened condensed milk sandwiches like “Ong Tho Milk” are children’s favorites. Many children also like to make a cup of hot milk and then break the bread to eat it. This way of eating comes from the program of the Ministry of Education that day, providing a light breakfast for elementary school students with bread and milk “Foremost” mixed in a glass. This is also a dish of patients during recovery because it is easy to digest and has nutrients. My childhood was associated with baguettes with tails, skins, chopped roast pork, pickles, sauces and no chili. On days when I had to be treated for illness, I tore bread into small pieces and put it in a glass of milk and then scooped it up with a spoon. The aftertaste of the last part of the cake is rarely mixed with the filling and sauce of ordinary bread, and the sweet aroma of the milk of the sick days at that time, as if still somewhere in me. *** Bread is processed by Vietnamese people in bakeries with the main ingredient being flour (some places add a small percentage of rice flour). After kneading the dough, adding baking powder, the cake is molded into small loaves, the top is covered with a layer of sugar water to create a light yellow color for the crust. Each loaf is also slit from 1-3 lines to allow the dough to expand and the cake after baking has 1-3 “eyes”. French bread served to delegates attending a ceremony to celebrate the Independence Day of the French Republic (July 14) at the Consulate General of France in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Luong Xuan Tuyen Bread now still has a French baguette-style long cake or a smaller baguette, which is limited in some supermarkets (such as Cora before, BigC…). Most bread today makes one serving, about an arm’s length in length. Depending on the bakery and the taste of the eater, there are types of bread with crispy crust, soft and hollow intestines for easy filling; bread “scented with butter”… There are also palm-sized cakes, thin slices… The filling now has butter, cheese spread on the inside of the cake before adding the filling, then the pate, sausage, western style; There are banh lou, Chinese style char siu… In addition, there are also vegetarian sandwiches to meet the needs of vegetarians. Bicycles carrying the rear bread box for sale are almost gone, instead there are bread carts with a metal frame wrapped in aluminum below, three sides of glass on the top for buyers to see. cakes, attractive “stuffing” plates are placed inside. Some bread carts also allow their brand to be painted on the front glass, or a slogan. These bread carts are often located at fixed locations with many visitors such as roadside or market gate, theater… There are also shops where customers eat and sit with decent tables and chairs, specializing in a bread dish, usually is with shumai, sausages and most commonly an “omelette” with one or two eggs, or bread served with beef steak… Many bakeries sell cakes with fillings and water. their own special sauce, put in a paper bag printed with the shop’s brand, with toothpicks or small plastic cups of coke… for customers to “take away”. There is a bakery selling online, delivering goods in the amount of a few dozen loaves, free of “chips” for customers. In tourist areas, they often sell ice cream sandwiches, in the style of ice cream sandwiches in some countries. The cake is a small loaf the size of a palm or bread slices, ice cream is of all kinds depending on the customer’s choice. Recently, bread has also appeared in special forms such as: dragon fruit bread, charcoal bread … but it seems to be just a “movement” item with no signs of lasting long… Besides the popular bread as mentioned, there are also Hamburger bread, sweet worm-shaped bread, bit-cot bread (the old bread is baked again) while chewing while listening to the sound of crispy crispy bread, bread coated with white granulated sugar or cotton wool… Bread appears in parties or in family meals, served with curry, ra-gu… (chicken, duck, goat, beef, ostrich…). At noodle shops, noodle soup has pho or beef noodle soup served with bread. Banh mi is also available in noodle shops, noodle shops, and noodle shops to satisfy some people’s taste, the rest is considered as an “anti-hunger” side dish! *** In 2011, the term “banh mi” written in Vietnamese appeared in the Oxford dictionary with the caption: “A type of bread consisting of a cake with many different ingredients, usually meat, vegetables and chili”. Bread originated from Europe and imported to our country, but today, it has returned to its original origin with a new name, “Vietnamese bread” or “Saigon bread”, in the form of a loaf with filling. just one serving. Vietnamese bread in the US is considered a sandwich of this country. Many “Vietnamese bread” and “Saigon bread” shops have been opened in the capitals of France, England, Germany, etc., showing the attraction of dishes prepared by Vietnamese hands, second only to “Vietnamese noodle soup”. oversea.

I order food online quite often, especially when working from home because of the complicated epidemic situation. In the afternoon snack from 3pm to 5pm, I usually order cakes or light snacks to recharge for afternoon work. The epidemic situation is complicated, you can stay at home and order cake delivery from the addresses below. Because of the increasing demand for online food ordering, there are many online bakeries opening on social networks. Just search for an address, I will get dozens of suggestions of similar addresses. This used to make me fall into a difficult situation not knowing which restaurant to choose, deciding whether to try a new one or stay loyal to the old address. If you have trouble choosing where to order food, you should have a list of a few restaurants with specific reviews for each criterion. Below is a list of bakeries I’ve tried and recommended by friends. In addition to 2 shops serving tea, cake and coffee, Butter by Butterman also has an online cake account with nearly 100,000 followers. The cakes featured at Butter include cupcakes, tiramisu, brownies, cookies, panna cotta, cheesecake, plus marshmallows and chocomallows. Although the bakery is famous for its colorful cookies and marshmallows, I prefer the cheesecake here. The last time I bought a cake at Bo, I ordered lime cheesecake. The core of the cake is soft, tender, melts as soon as it is put in the mouth, fragrant with greasy cheese, mixed with a cool lemon scent. This type of cake comes in 2 sizes, round and small like a cupcake. Avocado also serves some holiday themed cakes. On Mother’s Day (May 9), the shop served avocado cakes like avocado panna cotta tart. In terms of packaging, the cake is placed in bagasse box with small cakes, cookies and marshmallow, sold by kg or by jar, large loaf is packed in paper box so as not to smear the cream. Diners can order cakes directly through the shop’s social media accounts. Every day, the shop also updates the release date of new batches of cakes. I found out about this online bakery while looking for a small birthday cake for a colleague. Most of the bakeries I know before that sell 16-20 cm cakes which are small. Another bake shop serves small cheesecakes, including 3 sizes of 8 cm, 9 cm and 14 cm. The cakes are priced from 70,000-310,000 VND depending on the size and taste. Besides, you can order small cakes for snacks. The cakes in this shop are not too diverse in taste. You can try 3 flavors: Oreo cream cheesecake, Japanese strawberry cheesecake or blueberry cheesecake. What I like about the shop is the simple but unique way of wrapping the cake. When ordering a birthday cake here, I chose the size 9 cm oreo cream cheesecake. The cake is placed in a small bagasse box. The inner box lid is written with the message of the giver to the recipient. Larger ones are packaged in a cardboard box to ensure the cake doesn’t wobble. Every day, the shop will update on its personal page the cakes available for the day. Cakes that are not available are also notified for diners to order in batches. This bakery is famous for 2 types of lava cheese and jerry cheese cakes. During a colleague invited me to eat cake, I came to know this address. Being a cheese fanatic, I regularly order cakes here. Both lava cheese and jerry cheese outstanding cakes are rich in cheese flavor. However, I prefer lava cheese because it has a spongy, fragrant cake core, soft cheese, not greasy, sprinkled with many cheese fibers. Lava cheese loaf is about 16 cm, priced at 150,000 VND. Jerry cheese has a more salty cheese taste, the cake is a bit less and quite hard. Each box has 3 cakes, eye-catching creamy yellow cheese color. The price for each box of 3 is 115,000 VND. In addition, the shop also serves black sugar pearl cake, garlic cheese bread, macaron, oreo cheese cake, cream cheese… In general, the cake menu here is quite diverse, for sweet lovers. many choices. If you fall in love with small, colorful macarons, you can refer to Oris. This online bakery serves macarons, cakes sold by the box. S-size box (22 cakes) costs 86,000 VND. Box of size M (33 cakes) costs 130,000 VND. L-size box of 44 cakes costs 172,000 VND. In addition, diners can try cheesecake and tiramisu here. Cheesecake at Oris has no sugar, has oreo, green tea, strawberry, blueberry flavors. Cheesecake prices range from 45,000 VND to 135,000 VND. Ms. Ha My (Binh Thanh district) said that she had ordered a box of M size macarons, the quality of the cake was commensurate with the price. “The cake is quite small, but the quality is quite good. The crust is not hard, the cream is just right. The cake box is carefully wrapped, although 1-2 pieces are broken due to transportation,” Ms. My said. Thao Anh, an office worker in Ho Chi Minh City, also shared that because she works from home, she often orders 1-2 boxes of macarons to snack on. This is an online pastry shop that specializes in serving gateaux of all sizes. Every day, the shop makes fresh cakes such as cheese kimchi, salted egg sponge, tiramisu. According to the recommendation of friends who have ordered cakes at Cake Delight, the cake to try is salted egg sponge. This type of cake is 16-22 cm in size, priced from 80,000-240,000 VND. Hungry afternoon, you just need to order 80,000 VND round cake to be full The salted egg sponge here has a thick layer of cream cheese, the salted egg is split in half, adding cotton and a layer of golden egg cream. The cake core is relatively soft, not too sweet, the salted egg part is a bit dry. In addition to fresh cakes, the shop also serves custom-designed birthday cakes, priced from 140,000 to 410,000 VND depending on the size. Besides, tiramisu is also a type of cake that many people order here. However, according to some diners who have ordered cakes, tiramisu is quite soft, easy to flow during transportation.