SWEET OR SAVORY, LOTS OF TASTE, LOVED AROUND THE WORLD

Who doesn’t love a croissant? You can find them in London and France, South Africa and Tel Aviv . . . just about anywhere you go. Are they really all “French”?

There are a lot of legends but none have been proven. That means you can choose the story – like the type of croissant – which is most pleasing to your palate.

It was 1683 and the city of Vienna was surrounded by attacking Ottoman soldiers. Gareth Busby described it as dismal, “defeat looming, supplies and morale running low, and everybody in the city expected to surrender to the invaders.” The siege lasted two months. Legend says the bakers, led by Adam Spiel, were working late in the night when they heard the Ottomans attempting to tunnel under the city walls.

The bakers alerted the guards who repelled the attempt and fended off the invaders. Vienna was safe. The bakers celebrated the victory with a crescent-shaped pastry – the image taken from the enemy’s flag. They called it kipferl. It was sweet, dense, but less buttery than today’s croissants.

Chow down on the enemy!

There are other legends that predate the Ottoman Empire. Maybe it began in the Middle East where similar crescent-shaped pastries were enjoyed? There are no written records. Some historians argue that in 1686 it wasn’t Vienna, but Buda – a besieged city of the Holy League (Holy Roman Empire, Russian Empire, and Polish Empire) who was fighting to be rid of the Ottomans.

No bakers were involved.

Alto Hatley, author of A Brief History of the Croissant wrote that unconfirmed roots in ancient Egypt suggest that croissants might “be a form of rugelach, a Jewish pastry of Ashkenazi origin.”

Choose your favorite story. It will make your croissant taste even better.

The kipferl was very popular in the 17 and 1800s. It once again entered history through the 1770 arranged marriage between 14-year-old Marie-Antoinette and 15-year-old French heir to the throne, Louis XVI. The goal was to unite France and Austria.  Maria Xiong wrote in Diced, that Antoinette was very “homesick for foods from Austria,” and insisted on bringing Austrian bakers to the court.

The French loved the new pastry, calling it croissant (French for crescent).

Leap ahead to 1839. August Zang, a retired Austrian military office, was looking for a new investment. He opened a Vienna-style bakery in Paris called Boulangerie Viennoise. Xiong wrote that “Parisians fell in love with the kipferl and imitated the bread in the own shops.” The croissant was officially part of the historical record. In 1859, Zang’s Viennese Bakery was awarded with an order to bake 23,000 croissants to celebrate Napoleon’s victory at Magenta.

The croissant was officially “French.” Add a cup of coffee and voilà – the perfect breakfast.

In 1915, French baker Sylvain Claudius Goy, made a dramatic change in the recipe. He laminated the croissant – a process where butter is folded into the yeast dough, creating thin, flakey layers.

The modern croissant was born.

Years later, the Sara Lee Corporation developed a system to create frozen, bake-and-serve croissants. It wasn’t as tasty as the fresh, buttery French version but who’s complaining? Today Statista reports that over 145 million Americans eat croissants each year. There’s a National Croissant Day for what many call a “perfect” pastry.

You can buy mini or regular size, make them at home, or enjoy in restaurants around the world. Sweet croissants range from chocolate, almond, and fruit-filled to Nutella, ice cream, or anything a creative chef can invent. If you’re looking for savory, try cheese, turkey, salmon, spinach, hot dog, egg, or the inspired results of a creative chef. Check out Argentinian, Austrian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Turkish, Uruguayan, and Israeli Rugelach.

They’re all delicious.

Enjoy!