On a roll: French bakers take back the 'world's longest baguette' crown

French bakers have baked the world's longest baguette, measuring 140.53m, reclaiming a record for one of the nation's best-known emblems taken by Italy for five years.

The winning baguette, about 235 times longer than the traditional one, was made in Suresnes in the suburbs of Paris during an event for the French confederation of bakers and pastry chefs earlier this month.

The previous longest baguette of 132.62m was baked in the Italian city of Como in June 2019.

To better that, the French bakers began kneading and shaping the dough at 3am before putting it in a specially-built slow-moving oven on wheels.

“Everything has been validated, we are all very happy to have beaten this record and that it was done in France,” Anthony Arrigault, one of the bakers, said after the baguette was approved by the Guinness World Records judge.

Part of the baguette, which had to be at least 5cm thick throughout, was cut and shared with the public.

The rest was to be given to homeless people.

The traditional French baguette must be about 60cm long, be made from wheat flour, water, salt and yeast only, and weigh about 250g, according to the official regulation.

For the record-breaking baking, more rules must be met than just the length. The local hygiene laws must be abided by, the ingredients and cooking method must be those used to make a traditional baguette and it must be one continuous piece with no breakages. 

Reuters