What's funny is that I just finished re-reading Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, which features a cabbage-scented stamp [spoiler] as a minor plot point. Surprisingly, the history of...
What's funny is that I just finished re-reading Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, which features a cabbage-scented stamp [spoiler] as a minor plot point.
Lol that's exactly what I was thinking of as well. As least the baguette probably smells better than day old cabbage sitting in the sun, and not actually derived from stale baguette, and not prone...
Lol that's exactly what I was thinking of as well. As least the baguette probably smells better than day old cabbage sitting in the sun, and not actually derived from stale baguette, and not prone to spontaneous combustion nor likely to attract slugs ---> frogs ---> snakes ---> mongooses at the post office.
The French baguette was given Unesco heritage status in 2022.
Huh..... What other foods have also been given the status and which ones not yet given but are totally deserving?
You can browse the Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Register of good safeguarding practices, and filter it using the terms 'Food', 'Food Preparation', and 'Food Customs'.
What the hell is the deal with UNESCO and not including anglophone culture? Like I really don't care if they preserve jazz or like toast and beans or whatever, but I feel like that list is from a...
What the hell is the deal with UNESCO and not including anglophone culture? Like I really don't care if they preserve jazz or like toast and beans or whatever, but I feel like that list is from a pseudo-intellectual, French perspective of like "oh la la, we must prresarve ze know-ow of ze baguette even zough ze moderrn form eez only one centurrrries old et bien-sûr y a la gastronomie française and don't forget ze pizza neapolitano even zough ze moderrn forme arrrguably only dates to ze 1990s but sûrement zere is no culture across la Manche or aux USA and absolument no culture au Canada !!!"
I'm just sick of hearing how culture is only for people from regions that didn't happen to be settled by white anglophones.
AFAIK, it's the treaty member states themselves that nominate items to be included in the list. So your rant is pretty off-base. If anglophone countries want to propose something from their...
And as for why there are so many French items on the list, it's probably because it was a treaty first proposed by France at the 2003 UNESCO General Conference in Paris.
p.s. Funny side note, I remember there being some meme-fueled public pressure building up years ago here in Canada for our government to finally ratify the treaty, and then submit Poutine to the list. :P But sadly that never happened. :(
p.p.s. Ireland, one of the only primarily English speaking countries to actually ratify the treaty has submitted some items already... although none of them are food, as of yet.
I like how one of them is "Gastronomic meal of the French" https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/gastronomic-meal-of-the-french-00437 ...did the French invent the idea of eating together? Do we really need...
I like how one of them is "Gastronomic meal of the French"
The gastronomic meal of the French is a customary social practice for celebrating important moments in the lives of individuals and groups, such as births, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, achievements and reunions. It is a festive meal bringing people together for an occasion to enjoy the art of good eating and drinking. The gastronomic meal emphasizes togetherness, the pleasure of taste, and the balance between human beings and the products of nature. Important elements include the careful selection of dishes from a constantly growing repertoire of recipes; the purchase of good, preferably local products whose flavours go well together; the pairing of food with wine; the setting of a beautiful table; and specific actions during consumption, such as smelling and tasting items at the table.
...did the French invent the idea of eating together? Do we really need to protect the custom of eating food?
Why does it sound like something an alien from mars obsessed with french culture would write
That's just the way French people write. It's really weird and always identifiable. In the same way that they act like they invented eating together, they act like they invented all cooking....
Why does it sound like something an alien from mars obsessed with french culture would write
That's just the way French people write. It's really weird and always identifiable.
In the same way that they act like they invented eating together, they act like they invented all cooking. French pastries are neat, but French gastronomic cuisine is essentially just taking food that people eat in every country (beef stew, fried duck, baked/sauteed vegetables) and having the cook be someone who had to go to school for it. It's not like pasta or Mexican food is relatively unique. Sure, plenty of countries have flatbreads that you throw food into, but literally everyone has those same types of foods that France brags about; they just aren't so obsessive about precisely how you must cook them to make it perfect.
You're welcome to read the nomination form as well as the decision note to understand a bit more where they comes from. You, as a non-French doesn't need to do anything; the protection measures...
Do we really need to protect the custom of eating food?
You, as a non-French doesn't need to do anything; the protection measures are done by the submitting state themselves (there's also a special list ("List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding") for the practices that are dying).
It's really a UN-sanctionned PR thing for countries to inscribes something in that list (and I don't think it's a bad thing).
But to answer a bit more directly to your question, the motivations for the French to submit gastronomic eating to the list are in section 2 of their nomination form (in fact, all candidates must state why they think having this or that in the list is useful).
My tldr:
At a national level, back in 2003, French people weren't aware of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Having something that's very French would help spread awareness that this list is a thing
It's the very first food related stuff in the list. So at an international level, it's a signal saying "hey, did you know you can put your food stuff in there" ?
And as for the uniqueness an Frenchiness of the gastronomic meal: it's not the custom of eating food, or even eating food together, it's the custom of expecting excellent food for some special occasion. It's not exactly fine dining (assuming that fine dining == expensive dining), though it can include that. While it's debatable that having a formal dinner is uniquely French, they certainly popularized it. After all, Michelin comes from France. And Pixar chose France when they wanted to do a movie about cooking; they could very well have made one about a Japanese sushi artisan, or told the tale of the first Pizza.
"As an example of the nomination" is the best justification for it. Although you usually use a silly example - well, I guess this is one. This is like every culture on Earth. The only thing you...
"As an example of the nomination" is the best justification for it. Although you usually use a silly example - well, I guess this is one.
it's the custom of expecting excellent food for some special occasion
This is like every culture on Earth. The only thing you can quibble about is what the definition of "excellent food".
While it's debatable that having a formal dinner is uniquely French, they certainly popularized it.
Bro what
People had the equivalent of formal dinners since before Charlemagne existed.
What's funny is that I just finished re-reading Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, which features a cabbage-scented stamp [spoiler] as a minor plot point.
Surprisingly, the history of officially-issued scented stamps only dates back to 1973.
Lol that's exactly what I was thinking of as well. As least the baguette probably smells better than day old cabbage sitting in the sun, and not actually derived from stale baguette, and not prone to spontaneous combustion nor likely to attract slugs ---> frogs ---> snakes ---> mongooses at the post office.
Huh..... What other foods have also been given the status and which ones not yet given but are totally deserving?
You can browse the Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Register of good safeguarding practices, and filter it using the terms 'Food', 'Food Preparation', and 'Food Customs'.
Oh! Thank you~
That's not as many as I thought there might be. Great link, I'll have to read up on inclusion criteria next :)
What the hell is the deal with UNESCO and not including anglophone culture? Like I really don't care if they preserve jazz or like toast and beans or whatever, but I feel like that list is from a pseudo-intellectual, French perspective of like "oh la la, we must prresarve ze know-ow of ze baguette even zough ze moderrn form eez only one centurrrries old et bien-sûr y a la gastronomie française and don't forget ze pizza neapolitano even zough ze moderrn forme arrrguably only dates to ze 1990s but sûrement zere is no culture across la Manche or aux USA and absolument no culture au Canada !!!"
I'm just sick of hearing how culture is only for people from regions that didn't happen to be settled by white anglophones.
AFAIK, it's the treaty member states themselves that nominate items to be included in the list. So your rant is pretty off-base. If anglophone countries want to propose something from their culture or cuisine be added to the list they need to ratify the "Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage" treaty first, and after that then they can nominate things. But the US hasn't ratified it yet, and neither has Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or the UK, which explains why so few anglophone items are on the list. So blame those governments, not UNESCO.
And as for why there are so many French items on the list, it's probably because it was a treaty first proposed by France at the 2003 UNESCO General Conference in Paris.
p.s. Funny side note, I remember there being some meme-fueled public pressure building up years ago here in Canada for our government to finally ratify the treaty, and then submit Poutine to the list. :P But sadly that never happened. :(
p.p.s. Ireland, one of the only primarily English speaking countries to actually ratify the treaty has submitted some items already... although none of them are food, as of yet.
I like how one of them is "Gastronomic meal of the French"
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/gastronomic-meal-of-the-french-00437
...did the French invent the idea of eating together? Do we really need to protect the custom of eating food?
Why does it sound like something an alien from mars obsessed with french culture would write
That's just the way French people write. It's really weird and always identifiable.
In the same way that they act like they invented eating together, they act like they invented all cooking. French pastries are neat, but French gastronomic cuisine is essentially just taking food that people eat in every country (beef stew, fried duck, baked/sauteed vegetables) and having the cook be someone who had to go to school for it. It's not like pasta or Mexican food is relatively unique. Sure, plenty of countries have flatbreads that you throw food into, but literally everyone has those same types of foods that France brags about; they just aren't so obsessive about precisely how you must cook them to make it perfect.
You're welcome to read the nomination form as well as the decision note to understand a bit more where they comes from.
You, as a non-French doesn't need to do anything; the protection measures are done by the submitting state themselves (there's also a special list ("List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding") for the practices that are dying).
It's really a UN-sanctionned PR thing for countries to inscribes something in that list (and I don't think it's a bad thing).
But to answer a bit more directly to your question, the motivations for the French to submit gastronomic eating to the list are in section 2 of their nomination form (in fact, all candidates must state why they think having this or that in the list is useful).
My tldr:
And as for the uniqueness an Frenchiness of the gastronomic meal: it's not the custom of eating food, or even eating food together, it's the custom of expecting excellent food for some special occasion. It's not exactly fine dining (assuming that fine dining == expensive dining), though it can include that. While it's debatable that having a formal dinner is uniquely French, they certainly popularized it. After all, Michelin comes from France. And Pixar chose France when they wanted to do a movie about cooking; they could very well have made one about a Japanese sushi artisan, or told the tale of the first Pizza.
"As an example of the nomination" is the best justification for it. Although you usually use a silly example - well, I guess this is one.
This is like every culture on Earth. The only thing you can quibble about is what the definition of "excellent food".
Bro what
People had the equivalent of formal dinners since before Charlemagne existed.