Community ovens

For a long time, bread remained the staple food of the inhabitants of Queyras. Every village in the Republic of Escartons had one or more community ovens. Unlike the community ovens in the kingdom of France, no tax was paid by the users, but the rules on sharing were strict. Each family prepared their dough and used the oven in turns. The first family was in charge of lighting the oven. Once finished cooking, the oven was kept warm for the following ones. The following family cooked and kept the oven warm. This system could take several days and the last family was in charge of cleaning the oven. After each cooking, the order of use changed. Thus the lighting and cleaning were done in turns.