On Wednesday, May 10, a jury chaired by Olivia Polski, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of trade, crafts, liberal and independent professions, awarded the prize for the best French traditional baguette in the city of Paris, for the 30th edition.
The baguettes are judged according to 5 specific criteria: cooking, taste, crumb, smell and appearance. The height should vary between 45 and 55 cm, the weight between 200 and 300 grams and the salt content at a level of 18 grams per kilo of flour. This year, 176 chopsticks were dropped off in the morning, 50 were rejected due to weight and size in particular and 126 of them were judged.
After about 4 hours of tasting, each of the participants having had to taste 62 baguettes, the list of the 10 best artisan bakers in the capital was unveiled at 6 p.m. The winner won a prize of 4,000 euros and the privilege of becoming the official supplier of traditional baguettes to the Elysée for one year. This is Tharshan Selvarajah, bakery « Au levain des Pyrénées » 44 rue des Pyrénée 75020 Paris. Thanks to this prize, he will be able to multiply his daily production by at least 4 times like the winner each year, going from 500 to 2000 baguettes per day but also the number of his customers.
Tharshan Selvarajah received his Grand Prix de la baguette during the bread festival on the forecourt of Notre-Dame, this Saturday, May 13 at 10:45 a.m.
He succeeds Damien Dedun, who won the competition for the Frédéric Comyn bakery and pastry shop, located in the 15th, in 2022.
Arriving from Sri Lanka in 2006 after a year of studying law, Tharshan Selvarajah found a job in an Italian restaurant in the 20th arrondissement. « It was close to the bakery, whose boss came regularly for lunch, » he says. So, when three years later the restaurant where he works is sold, the baker, Xavier Maulavé, offers him to come and work at his place. « I didn’t know anything about it, he said to me: Don’t worry, I’ll teach you little by little ».
« One day, I started to make the traditions on my own and my boss found them very successful, says the baker. It is true that they stood out from the others ». In 2018, Tharshan Selvarajah already won 3rd prize in the competition for the Best Baguette in Paris. In 2021, he bought the neighborhood business.
The list of the 10 best artisan bakers in the competition
1. Tharshan Selvarajah – “Au Levain des Pyrénées” 44 rue des Pyrénées (20th)
2. Thierry Guyot “Guyot bakery and pastry shop” – 28 rue Monge (5th)
3. Jocelyn Lohezic “House Lohezic” – 143 rue de Courcelles (17th)
4. Benjamin Turenne “All Around Bread” – 134 rue de Turenne (3rd)
5. Florian Bleas “Aux Délices de Vaugirard” 48 rue Madame (6th)
6. Frank Tombarel “Le Grenier de Félix” – 64 avenue Félix Faure (15th)
7. Kilani Ounissi “Kilani Bakery” – 191 rue du faubourg Saint-Antoine (11th)
8. Maxime Julien “The Flavors of Lévis” – 41 rue de Lévis (17th)
9. Mohkam Karoui « The Time of a Gourmandise » – 94 boulevard de Port-Royal (5th)
10. Kouni Elayeb “The Delight of Bagnolet” – 42 boulevard Mortier (20th)
Copyright ©2023 IMPACT EUROPEAN
Copyright ©2023 IMPACT EUROPEAN
About The Author
More Stories
No more comedy! Confidences to Dalida
Hams at the heart of a bell tower dispute!
Paris pays tribute to the victims of November 13, nine years later