Baguette as a symbol of French culture in Indochina

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to study the role and influence of French culture through food, especially the baguette. This kind of French food has become a unique characteristic of food culture in the lower Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries, namely, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, which formerly constituted French Indochina. The method for this study is qualitative in nature, consisting of documentary research, interviews, and direct observations. The field study was restricted to the large cities in the three countries. The main field-research areas are Vientiane in Lao PDR, and Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh in Vietnam and Cambodia, respectively. All three countries were once under French rule; they are thus areas where there exists widespread consumption of baguette – a factor which was favorable to field-data collection by the researcher. The research has found that the baguette, or “khao chi” in Lao, originated in the 19th century. It is believed that a cook from Vienna was the originator of this kind of bread. Baguette is made from flour, water, salt, and yeast. It is sometimes known, in Thai and Lao as “chicken-leg bread”, or sticks in English. This kind of bread was introduced into the lower GMS countries by French ruling elite and their servants under the colonial regime. The influence of the ruling elite was also felt among the local people in high society in large urban areas under French rule in Laos during 1893-1954. The consumption of baguette was later spread to the middle-class people in the countryside following the end of French rule in 1954. Consisting of simple ingredients, together with simple production process, khao chi could easily be fused with the culinary traditions of the local populations, who, in adopting it, have adapted it to their traditional foods. The baguette has thus become popular among people of all social classes and can be found on sale in various forms and sizes in both urban and rural areas. This study has contributed to an understanding of the nature and process of adopting French culture, whose legacy is still present and has become an eating habit, especially of the Lao people, today. This legacy can be seen in all large cities in Laos, where it is generally known as “khao chi pate”.