The beautiful story of the croissants


The beautiful story of the croissants
As you may have already noticed, cooking, baking and pastry-making are full of stories or legends, usually very romantic, about this or that product or recipe. This is often the case for named recipes, for example tarte tatin, peach melba, paris-brest and many others, but it also applies to very emblematic products of the bakery.

Well, here is the beautiful story of the "invention" of croissants.
16 K 5/5 (19 reviews)
Grade this page:
Keywords for this post:BakeryBakersMineViennoiserieVienneCroissantHistoryAustriansTurksMarie-antoinette
Last modified on: October 10th 2018
For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend
The beautiful story of the croissants

siège de Vienne


July 14, 1683, the Turks (at the time they were called "Ottomans") laid siege to Vienna for the second time. The city was, at the time, still fortified, and although it was the dawn of the Enlightenment, it was still a quasi-feudal attack that was being prepared: the Turks surrounded the city and cut off its supplies, thus hoping for a more or less rapid surrender of the Viennese.

It is a long siege war, but at the time already "mine" that is to say that the attackers not content with firing on the walls with cannons, dig galleries from their lines to the fortifications, and once arrived below fill with black powder and explode, hoping to create a breach in the walls and allow a rapid invasion.

The defenders are not idle, they dig galleries in the other direction, counter-mines, to try to eliminate the miners. To do this, they were listening, trying to detect the pickaxes of the Turkish miners' progression. Cleverly, the Turks decided to dig only at night, counting on the sleep of the Viennese to advance discreetly.

Bad luck for them, at night the bakers were at work, and in their bakeries they heard the miners digging, warned the authorities, who reacted to thwart the attack. The Viennese bakers saved the city from the Turk! (At least, that's the legend).

To celebrate this event, the bakers threw a small loaf of bread (probably brioche) in the shape of the crescent found on the Ottoman flag, this cake is called "hörnchen" ("little horn").

drapeau ottoman



This same bun was brought to France with the arrival of the Arch-Duchess Marie-Antoinette, future wife of Louis XVI and Queen of France. Over time, and especially at the beginning of the 20th century, the original bun, under the influence of the French bakers, Parisian in particular, became something more sophisticated, both leavened and flaky, it is the croissant that we know today, of which only the original shape remains.

croissant.webp



Nice story, isn't it?

That's also why we talk about viennoiseries, in France only, to group together everything that concerns leavened dough(brioche dough, bread pudding, brioche bread, etc.) and leavened leafy dough (croissant, pain au chocolat, raisin bread, etc.).

Note: You will often read or hear "The world, or the future, belongs to those who get up early", this is completely false, because if it were true the bakers would have been the masters of the world for a long time!

Lasts posts
Cherry clafoutis, with or without pits?
Cherry clafoutis, with or without pits?
When it comes to cherry clafoutis recipes, there's often a camp of those who argue that you absolutely have to leave the stones in because it tastes better, and the other camp (myself included) who prefer cherries without stones, which makes a much more pleasant clafoutis to eat. But is it true...
June 29th 20255275
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Let's say you have to make a recipe that includes potatoes, let's say sliced, you'll most likely proceed as follows: Peel the potatoes, wash them, slice them, wash them again, pat them dry and add them to your recipe. But there's a "but": depending on the recipe, the second washing may be a bad...
May 19th 20252,173 15
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".
April 25th 20251,9865
The thermometer is your friend
The thermometer is your friend
There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...
April 10th 20252,3255
Travel cakes
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27th 20253,786

Other pages you may also like
Chive flowers
Chive flowers
Did you know that? Chive flowers are not only a beautiful purple color, but they are also edible and delicious.
May 29th 201945 K4.4
Artichoke stalks
Artichoke stalks
When preparing artichokes for cooking, you may well already know that we often need to remove the first round of leaves, if they are tatty or dirty, as well as the inedible stalk. The operative word here is “remove” , rather than “cut off”.
October 25th 201650 K4.3
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7th 2017129 K 14.1
The right weight of pastry for a pie
The right weight of pastry for a pie
Let's try to solve a thorny problem: How much dough will I need when I make my next pie? You're planning to make a pie, you're going to use your favourite mould or circle, but how much pastry will you need to fill it completely with a well spread pastry, without being too thin, or on the contrary...
March 20th 202063 K4.3
Kitchen ovens
Kitchen ovens
You certainly have one in your kitchen, an oven, the essential tool for all kinds of cooking, whether in the kitchen of course, but also in pastry, bakery, pizza, and many others. Here is some information on its structure and operation.
May 16th 202030 K4.4
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page