One of the most delicious morning pastries, loved by millions around the world, the French Croissant….but is the pastry’s origin really French? Let’s find out…
Many Theories Behind the Origin of Croissant
Several suggestions claim back the origin of the croissant to be rooted in ancient Medieval Europe when it was fighting against the Arabs. Those Middle Eastern troops had the croissant as their reference, and hence defeating them was celebrated with creating the same crescent dough shape.
Another theory states that even though the croissant was truly from Europe, it is not really that distant in history. However, it emerged in a battle between Austria and Turkey. But how did it exactly happen, it was in fact surprising. Below we share all the interesting details.
Austria, the Origin of Croissant
The story goes this way: the croissant was created in the late 1600s in Austria. The inspiration for this creation was the Ottomans Turks. They were trying to dig an underground tunnel to enter Austria. It was at the breaking of dawn when a noise was heard by someone in Austria. It was a baker who gets up very early to prepare the dough for his shop. He quickly notified the soldiers who became alert and prepared.
Then Austria was able to defeat the Ottomans due to this surprise twist of events. Afterwards and as a celebration in honor of the bakers, the crescent shape inspired from the Turkish flag was created for this triumphal victory. The sweet was originally known as Kipferl, in the German dialect of Austria.
France... the French Croissant
Almost a century later, Marie Antoinette, sometimes refereed to as the infamous queen of France, helped in popularizing the croissant in France. She was Austrian Monarch who later married the king of France at the time, Louis XVI. This established a deep cultural and traditional food connection between the two countries. Naturally, artisanal sweets were transferred as well from between the two European nations.
Furthermore, in the early 1800s, an Austrian baker named August Zang, made the croissant famous. He held several jobs before becoming a baker and popularizing the croissant in his famous shop in one of Paris’s prime locations.
Regardless which story is true or you choose to believe, the croissant is a crunchy reality filled with butter and lots of layers of infinite joy and silky smooth dough. Bon appétit!
