President Emmanuel Macron once referred to the French baguette as “250 grams of magic and perfection.” Its aroma is not only pleasant; For many, smelling a baguette is like coming home. For this reason, France’s national postal service launched a new stamp that features a drawing of a baguette adorned with a red, white and blue ribbon, and that also smells like French bread. The stamps came “out of the oven” this month and can now be purchased for 1.96 euros on their website. In principle, its circulation is limited to 594,000 copies.
“The baguette, bread of our daily life, symbol of our gastronomy, jewel of our culture,” reads the description of the product, which promises a “delicious sensory experience.” The secret for the paper rectangle to contain the characteristic aroma of the baguette is that it comes encapsulated in a special ink. “The difficulty was applying the ink without breaking the capsules, so that the customer could release the smell by rubbing the stamp,” Bleu Damien Lavaud, Philaposte printer, explained in an interview.
The baguette is a symbol of French daily life. According to the French Bread Observatory, approximately 320 baguettes are consumed per second, which is equivalent to an average of half a baguette per person per day and about 10 billion baguettes per year. This enduring icon of the nation received UNESCO intangible cultural heritage status in 2022.
France will be in the center of attention this summer for the celebration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The event will also mark a gastronomic milestone with the opening of the largest restaurant in the world, which will serve a specialized menu for the most of 15,000 athletes who land in the city. Athletes will also have the opportunity to learn how to make their own baguettes in workshops held during the event. Those who wish can bake their own “250 grams of magic and perfection”, and now they can also share that little piece of magic by sending a postcard by mail.
