Sri Lankan baker wins title for best baguette in Paris - by Sarah Pollok

Sri Lankan baker wins title for best baguette in Paris – by Sarah Pollok

best baguette award — Baker Jean-Louis Hecht hopes his French bread vending machine will ensure people can get their hands on fresh baguette at any time of the day or night. Photo / Thinkstock

The baguette may be an iconic food in Paris but according to a major annual competition, the very best isn’t made by a French person. In fact, they aren’t even from Europe.

On May 10, the “Grand Prix de la Baguette de Tradition Francaise de la Ville De Paris” competition had bakers across the city offer up their best baguettes to be judged by a panel of experts.

In its 30th edition, the event is one of the oldest of its kind in France and a source of pride according to the president of the bakers’ union ‘Syndicat des Boulangers du Grand Paris’, Franck Thomasse.

The title of best baguette baker isn’t the only thing up for grabs. Winners also receive 4,000 euros and a chance to supply baguettes to Élysée Palace (where the French president lives) for a year.

According to the mayoral deputy for commerce and partisanship Olivia Polski, who has presided over the competition for almost a decade, the competition is about more than just great bread.

“It is an extremely important competition for them, it is truly a consecration,” she told CNN.

With so much on the line, the competition involves strict rules. This year, 40 of the 176 baguettes submitted didn’t even make the first cut because they used the wrong flour, were too long or short or were not heavy enough.

Loaves that make the first round are numbered and anonymously laid along a table, ready for the 18-person panel of baking union officials, prior winners, food bloggers and six Parisians randomly selected from more than 1,200 applicants.

Flour, water, yeast and salt. These are the ingredients in a traditional French baguette, which could lead one to ask, is there really that much difference?

“Oh yes, oh there’s no question,” Polski told CNN with a look of surprise.

“On the contrary, it may be counter-intuitive, but in fact you know very quickly.”

It could be almost 10 years of experience, but Polski added that this year, the winner was obvious almost instantly.

Sri Lankan baker claims first place

The winner in question was baguette number 142, which belonged to Tharshan Selvarajah, a Sri Lankan baker who works at Au Levain des Pyrénées.

After studying law for a year in Sri Lanka, Selvarajah (37) moved to Paris in 2006 at 21 and worked at an Italian restaurant. It was here he caught the attention of Xavier Maulave, Au Levain des Pyrénées’ owner, who frequented the restaurant.

As bakeries go, Au Levain des Pyrénées is a humble little building, located on a nondescript corner in Paris’ outer-most suburb, but manages to whip up around 500 baguettes every day. According to Selvarajah, they bake a batch every 20 minutes or so, ensuring customers get a hot, fresh, baguet .