Running Head: CROISSANTS

Croissants
Kerry Nefferdorf
CIV

CROISSANTS

Croissants
Like most other pastries, the history of the croissant is uncertain. The most commonly
accepted legend actually exists in at least two different variations. In either Vienna in 1683 or
Budapest in 1686, bakers working through the night heard the sounds of the invading Turkish
army digging a tunnel under the city. The bakers sounded the alarm, and the invaders were
defeated. In honor of this, the bakers created a bread in the shape of the crescent on the Turkish
flag this allowed them to figuratively devour their enemies.
It is certain that crescent-shaped pastries made out of brioche made their way from
Vienna to France in the 18th or 19th century, but the legend of how this happens differs from the
likely actual explanation. It is said that when Marie Antoinette came to France from Austria at
age 15, she described her favorite crescent-shaped bread to the Court bakers, and croissants
became popular from there. This is doubtful, however, because anything that became popular
because of Marie Antoinette would have appeared in the press of the time, and the croissant does
not.
While it is possible that Marie Antoinettes bakers made kipfel (the Viennese predecessor
of the croissant) for her, it is likely that they didnt become popular in Paris until 1839 when
August Zang founded a Viennese bakery at 92, rue de Richelieu. This was, however, still a
Viennese croissant. The Parisian croissant, made from buttery, laminated dough, wasnt
developed until much later. A recipe for the croissant as we know it first appeared in print in
1906. Since then, it has become a symbol of French culture as much as, if not more than, any
other bread or pastry.

CROISSANTS

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Troy,E.(2012,94).WastheCroissantReallyDevelopedbytheFrenchorisitfromSomewhere
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