Croissant | french

Croissants

Believe it or not, croissants actually originated in Austria, not France!! The kipferl, ancestor of the croissant, has been documented in Austria going back at least as far as the 13th century, in various shapes. The kipferl can be made plain or with nuts or other fillings. The birth of the croissant itself – that is, its adaptation from the plainer form of kipferl – can be dated to 1838 or 1829, when an Austrian artillery officer, August Zang, founded a Viennese bakery ("Boulangerie Viennoise") at 92, rue de Richelieu in Paris. This bakery, which served Viennese specialities including the kipferl, quickly became popular and inspired French imitators. The French version of the kipferl was named for its crescent (croissant) shape and has become an identifiable shape across the world.

Croissants can be very difficult and time consuming to make. In fact, many home recipes require up to two days to complete! In the late 1970s, the development of factory-made, frozen, pre-formed but unbaked dough made them into a fast food which can be freshly baked by unskilled labor. The “croissanterie” was explicitly a French response to American-style fast food, and today 30–40% of the croissants sold in French bakeries and patisseries are baked from frozen dough. There is also a fully cooked, pre-packaged croissant you can buy from corner stands or even vending machines, especially in busy places such as train stations or airports! The downside is this dough often leaves the finished croissant less flaky and buttery than the fresh version would be.

The most common croissant is still the plain butter one, but there are many, many variations. Sweet croissants are a common dessert item, filled with chocolate or fruit and sometimes topped with a sugary glaze or nuts. There are even savory croissants stuffed with cheese, meat (commonly ham), or veggies! Some of them have specific names, such as the pain au chocolat (literally, “bread of chocolate”) and others are simply croissant au/aux ______. Thanks to all these variations, many French people now eat croissants at any time of the day rather than just breakfast (as used to be traditional).