The French take their bread seriously, particularly the baguette. By law, the highest end ones can only be made with four ingredients – flour, yeast, water and salt. In 2018, the baguette was added to the French Ministry of Culture’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and four years ago, it was made part of UNESCO’s similar list.
Many people in France go to the bakery daily for their baguettes because they’re made without preservatives and need to be consumed quickly. With March 21 designated as National French Bread Day, it’s a good time to zoom in on two of Nashville’s finest, locally made baguettes produced by bakers who are actually from France.
The Little Gourmand, 2209 Bandywood and 717 Craighead, was founded by Guenievre Milliner in 2014 to bring imported, authentic French food to Music City. Cocorico, 1600 Division St., came along four years later, headed by Elodie Habert. They both make an excellent baguette. It’s super crispy on the outside and toothsome on the inside. I ping pong back and forth between the two…