This year's winner of best baguette in Paris was a Sri Lankan migrant, beating out traditional French bakers. Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan, 43, won the prestigious prize for best traditional French baguette, which comes with a £4,000 prize and a contract to supply the Elysee Palace, the official residence of the President of Paris, with fresh loaves every morning. Despite winning the prize money and contract, he does not yet have a French nationality. "My request is being processed," he told The Telegraph, and said he hoped his win would accelerate the process. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say The title of best baguette has been selected each year since 1994 by the city of Paris and Greater Paris Bakers’ Union. A jury of councillors, laymen, and baguette fanatics devour hundreds of loaves from the French capital's 1,100 traditional bakeries before determining a winner. The winner receives the official title of grand prix de la baguette de tradition française de la ville de Paris (grand prize for the traditional French baguette of Paris). Pascal Barillon, the vice president of the Greater Paris Bakers' Union said baguettes are scored on a criteria based on appearance, baking, alveolation — when bread has air pockets — taste, and smell. He added that the best baguettes should have a crisp crust and a regular "honeycomb" crumb inside. The holes in the bread should ideally be small and evenly distributed, the jury member said. Mr Barillon told The Telegraph the best baguettes have a "slightly golden crumb". He said all of the best baguettes in this year's competition had a "beautiful interior, regular crumb, a good colour and they were well baked". LATEST NEWS FROM ACROSS THE CHANNEL: Emmanuel Macron plans to deploy nuclear weapons to Britain as part of massive arsenal expansion Louvre director QUITS after being blamed for £76million jewel heist at Paris museum France fails to stop two-thirds of small boats as Keir Starmer told to stop paying Emmanuel Macron Mr Jegatheepan, whose deputy bakers are also Sri Lankan, told The Telegraph it was his first time participating in the contest. The baker, who moved to France in 2003 from Sri Lanka, said: "It was a big surprise. It was my first time and I won straight away. I’m very proud." He set up his own business in 2019, and first specialised in macarons before moving to bread. He told The Telegraph that until he had moved to France, he had never "thought anything about baking". Business at his boulangerie, which sells 600 baguettes per day at €1.30 a piece, has surged since his victory. Martin du Vachat, 41, a classical singer, said the award was well deserved. He described Mr Jegatheepan's bread as "golden and very beautiful" adding that it was a pleasure "for all the senses". However, he added the bread must be ate quickly, because "five hours later it's not worth much". Aude Marechal, 40, a schoolteacher, told The Telegraph she bought a baguette from Mr Jegatheepan's bakery after a morning run. It was immediately clear to her the baguette was a better than the rest, saying "it’s crispy on the outside and a little soft on the inside, and it’s light and airy". Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter