rio che ", ▁commonly ▁translated ▁in ac cur ately ▁as ▁ ▁" Let ▁them ▁eat ▁c ake ". ▁This ▁saying ▁is ▁commonly ▁mis - att ributed ▁to ▁Queen ▁Marie - An to in ette , ▁wife ▁of ▁Louis ▁XVI . ▁In ▁the ▁contempor aneous ▁" En cyc lop édie " ▁it ▁says : ▁" the ▁taste ▁for ▁lux ury ▁and ▁on er ous ▁magnific ence ▁of ▁much ▁of ▁the ▁world , ▁having ▁sli pped ▁into ▁religious ▁practice , ▁the ▁usage ▁was ▁introduced ▁in ▁large ▁cities ▁of ▁giving ▁in ▁place ▁of ▁bread , ▁some ▁more ▁or ▁less ▁del icate ▁c ake ▁... ▁one ▁would ▁not ▁believe ▁what ▁it ▁costs ▁the ▁nation ▁every ▁year ▁for ▁this ▁article ▁alone . ▁We ▁know ▁that ▁there ▁are ▁more ▁than ▁ 4 0 , 0 0 0 ▁par ishes ▁in ▁the ▁kingdom ▁where ▁they ▁dist ribute ▁bl essed ▁bread ." ▁ ▁Et ym ology ▁Although ▁there ▁has ▁been ▁much ▁debate ▁about ▁the ▁et ym ology ▁of ▁the ▁word ▁and , ▁thus , ▁the ▁reci pe ' s ▁orig ins , ▁it ▁is ▁now ▁widely ▁accepted ▁that ▁it ▁is ▁derived ▁from ▁the ▁Old ▁French ▁verb ▁" b rier ", ▁" a ▁Norman ▁dialect ical ▁form ▁of ▁bro yer , ▁to ▁work ▁the ▁d ough ▁with ▁a ▁bro ye ▁or ▁br ie ▁( a ▁sort ▁of ▁wooden ▁roll er ▁for ▁kne ading ); ▁the ▁suffix ▁- o che ▁is ▁a ▁generic ▁de ver bal ▁suffix . ▁P ain ▁b ri é ▁is ▁a ▁Norman ▁bread ▁whose ▁dense ▁d ough ▁was ▁formerly