Great Moments In Food
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday July 13, 1987
CROISSANTS are rapidly replacing toast on Australian Sunday morning breakfast tables.
You only have to see the frozen varieties in supermarket freezers, or note the numbers of patisseries now in existence, to recognise the infiltration of this light buttery French pastry into Australian homes.
In France, the croissant is sacred to breakfast and is washed down with generous cups of coffee or hot chocolate while perusing the morning papers.
Croissant means "crescent". There is an interesting story behind this. It is said that the croissant was first created in Budapest during the siege of that city by the Turks in 1686. To reach the centre of the town, they had dug underground passages. The all-night bakers heard the noise made by the Turks and gave the alarm, whereupon, swift action was taken to repulse them.
In recognition of their resourcefulness, the bakers were given permission to make a pasty shaped in the form of a crescent, the emblem of the Ottoman flag. The croissant later found its way to France to become an inseparable part of the petit dejeuner. Some also believe the crescent shape stems from much earlier, pre-Christian sources.
The most delicious of the croissants are those made of risen yeast-milk-and-flour dough, slathered with butter, folded in three and rolled and folded again three times as for puff pastry. Other methods for making croissants involve either puff pastry or brioche dough rolled into crescent shapes or include egg or butter substitutes. Those made in the classic manner are the most delicious.
Croissants require skill to make. Unless you want to set aside an afternoon, buy them from your local patisserie.
© 1987 Sydney Morning Herald