Let Them EAT CAKE:

Let Them EAT CAKE: Celebrating St Honoré Ally Mitchell investigates the legend of Saint Honoré and his importance to the bakers of France… As a Brit, my appreciation of saint days extends to our patron saints of which there are four, one for each country within the United Kingdom. Beyond them and St Valentine, however, there are few saints recorded on my calendar. France, on the other hand, has filled in the blanks – here, they have helpfully pointed out there is a saint allocated to every day of the year. Many slide right past on the conveyer belt of days, yet some are celebrated including St Catherine, the saint of unmarried women, in November, and St Honoré, the saint of bakers, in May, both worthy of a good celebration (maybe they should be combined? What a good kneesup that would be). St Honoré even had a spectacular cake made in his honour, one which is now sold in boulangeries around France. Pretty good going for a young unassuming bishop from Amiens. So, to celebrate St Honoré on the 16th May, here’s his tale and how he became the saint of boulangers, pâtissiers and meuniers, three professions you might not expect would require a patron. Honoré was born in Port-le-Grand, Picardy, in the sixth century to a noble family, yet not a lot has been recorded about his life until he was offered the role of the eighth bishop of Amiens. Even though he resisted the offer, believing himself to be unworthy, according to legend, at that exact moment, a ray a divine light shone down on him. His beloved nursemaid didn’t believe he could have been honoured with such a position. She swore she would accept it only if her bread peel grew roots and transformed into a tree. Incidentally, she was baking bread at the time, and placing the end of the peel on the floor, it suddenly morphed into a mulberry tree. Ten centuries later, the tree was still standing and deemed miraculous. This wasn’t the only miracle allegedly conjured by Honoré, nor his only connection to bread 60 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 61