Meet the Youngest Winner of Paris’ Grand Prize for Best Baguette

Best Parisian Baguette winner Mahmoud M’seddi with his grand-prize-winning baguetteCourtesy of Mahmoud M’seddi

Mahmoud M’seddi answers the video call in a striking black chef’s coat and hat, complete with bright red trim. His uniform is spotless despite the fact that—as I soon learn—he’s been awake since 3:30 a.m., as he is every day, to ferment, mix, proof, and knead the dough for his baguettes.

M'seddi, the winner of France's 2018 Grand Prize for Best Parisian Baguette—and, at 27 years old, the youngest recipient to date—is dynamic, amiable, and somehow still humble, considering his newfound fame. He owns a small, artisanal bakery in Paris' 14th arrondissement, and beat out 180 other bakers this April in the city's exhaustive competition judged by a panel of baguette experts. (Yes, you can be a baguette expert). The annual tournament grades the baguettes on aspect (appearance), cuisson (baking), mie-alvéolage (texture), odeur (smell) and goût (taste), not to mention strict qualificatory guidelines for size (between 55-65 centimeters in length and 250-300 grams in weight), in order to find a champion that wholly embodies French culture in a single loaf. Needless to say, this competition is treated with the utmost seriousness.