This was a fascinating story kids. About how the croissant was born and then moved to its adopted country France. I always thought that it was invented as a response to the win over the ottomans but no. The French really make delicious croissants. I loved their food. The only quibble is that the portions are too small.
Today is the final of the great British bake off. It's so popular. No wonder. I think desserts and pastries are the toughest to make. You have to be precise. Desserts are unforgiving. Unlike main dishes and starters and soups, a good dessert is a mark of a great chef. Takes time. Takes precision. Takes dedication. Takes huge amounts of practise. And practise. And practise. Quite a tough one. And all that I am not. All you are so health conscious that I cannot even practise. So my idea of going on a dessert course is now shelved. Grumbles.
Anyway. Have fun reading this.
Love
Baba
Is the Croissant Really French?
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/croissant-really-french-180955130/
(via Instapaper)
One bite of a croissant just pulled from the oven at Michel Lyczak’s bakery in the southern Parisian suburb of Malakoff is bliss: a satisfying crunch and scattering of crumbs, the indulgent mouthfeel of butter wrapped in the overwhelming sensation of lightness. Few foods are as culturally iconic as this flaky breakfast food, so quintessentially French that many English speakers defer to its native pronunciation (krwa-sohn).
Yet as recently as the 19th century, the French viewed the croissant as a foreign novelty, sold only in special Viennese bakeries in the pricier parts of Paris. And how it came to France in the first place remains obscured by layer upon layer of legend.
Experts do agree that the croissant was inspired by the Austrian kipfel, a crescent-shaped baked good featuring a generous amount of butter or lard and sometimes sugar and almonds. According to popular lore, the kipfel originated in 1683 as a comestible celebration of Austrian victory over the Ottomans at the siege of Vienna. The story follows that a baker, up early to make bread, saved the city when he heard the Turks tunneling underneath the city and sounded an alarm. The kipfel’s curved shape, said to mimic the crescent moon of the Ottoman flag, then would seem to pay poetic tribute to the indomitable spirit of a city that resisted a powerful invading force. (Conveniently, another legend holds that the cappuccino was invented almost simultaneously, inspired by the strong
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