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BAGUETTE

Paris reveals City of Light’s best baguette

Paris has named the best baguette in town, with the winner in the city's 18th arrondissement set to bake a fresh batch for the president every morning for the next year.

Paris reveals City of Light's best baguette
And the best baguette in the French capital is? Photo: Alex/Flickr
Djibril Bodian from the Grenier à Pain bakery on the Rue des Abbesses, Montmartre, has plenty to smile about. 
 
The French baker of Senegalese origin has bagged  the official title of "Best baguette in Paris" for the second time since 2011. 
 
The prize comes with €4,000 in cash and the honour of baking a fresh batch for the presidential Elysée palace every day for the next year. 
 
Rules were specific in the competition, in which every baker in Paris was invited to attend.
 

(The bakery is between the Moulin Rouge and the Sacré Coeur. Photo: Google Maps)
 
All baguettes needed to measure between 55 and 65 centimetres in length, weigh between 250 and 300 grammes, and have a salt content of no more than 18 grammes per kilo of flour. 
 
Fifteen officials judged the 231 entries based on criteria including smell, taste, appearance and crispness.
 
Bodian said in a statement that he "never imagined" that he would win again, adding that anyone dreaming of following his footsteps needed to "work hard and persevere". 
 

(Djibril Bodian shows off his prize-winning bread sticks. Photo: AFP)
 
Bodian's win in 2011 saw a 30 percent increase in business for his bakery, reported French newspaper Le Parisien
 
This year saw a top ten, for the first time. We've included the top five below, including the arrondissement in brackets. 
 
1. 38 rue des Abbesses (18th)
2. 193 rue de Tolbiac (13th)
3. 150 avenue Victor Hugo (16th)
4. 30 Rue d'Alesia (14th)
5. 249 boulevard Voltaire (11th)
 

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