croissant (UK: /ˈkrwʌsɒŋ/;[3] , US: /krəsɒnt/; French pronunciation: [kʁwa.sɑ̃] (About this soundlisten)) is a buttery, flaky, viennoiserie pastry of Austrian origin,[1] but mostly associated with France. Croissants are named for its historical crescent shape and, like other viennoiserie, are made of a layered yeast-leavened dough. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a thin sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry.
Crescent-shaped breads have been made since the Renaissance, and crescent-shaped cakes possibly since antiquity.[4] Croissants have long been a staple of Austrian, Italian, and French bakeries and pâtisseries. The modern croissant was developed in the early 20th century. In the late 1970s, the development of factory-made, frozen, pre-formed but unbaked dough made them into a fast food that can be freshly baked by unskilled labor. The croissant bakery, notably the La Croissanterie chain, was a French response to American-style fast food,[5] and as of 2008, 30–40% of the croissants sold in French bakeries and patisseries were baked from frozen dough.[6]
Croissants are a common part of a continental breakfast in many European countries.
Uncooked croissant dough can also be wrapped around any praline, almond paste, or chocolate before it is baked (in the last case, it becomes like pain au chocolat, which has a different, non-crescent, shape), or sliced to include sweet or savoury fillings. It may be flavoured with dried fruit such as sultanas or raisins, or other fruits such as apples. In France and Spain, croissants are generally sold without filling and eaten without added butter, but sometimes with almond filling. In the United States, sweet fillings or toppings are sometimes used, and warm croissants may be filled with ham and cheese, or feta cheese and spinach. In the Levant, croissants are sold plain or filled with chocolate, cheese, almonds, or zaatar. In Germany, croissants are sometimes filled with Nutella or persipan; in southern Germany, there is also a popular variety of a croissant glazed with lye (Laugencroissant). In the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the croissant is typically called a Gipfeli; this usually has a crisper crust and is less buttery than the French-style croissant.
Argentina and Uruguay Edit
Croissants are commonly served alongside coffee for breakfast, aperitivo (a light mid-morning meal), or merienda (a mid-afternoon meal). They are referred to as medialunas (“half moons”) because of their shape and are typically coated with a sweet glaze (medialunas de manteca, “half moons of butter”). Another variant is a medialuna de grasa (“half moon of lard”), which is not always sweet.
Italy Edit
A cousin of the croissant is the Italian cornetto (in the Center and South) or brioche (in the North). These variants are often considered to be the same, but that is not completely true: the French version tends to be crispy and contains a lot of butter, whereas an Italian cornetto or brioche is usually softer. Furthermore, the cornetto vuoto (Italian: “empty cornetto”) is commonly accompanied by variants with filling, which include crema pasticciera (custard), apricot jam or chocolate cream. They often come covered with powdered sugar or other toppings. Cornetto with cappuccino at the bar is considered[by whom?] to be the one of the most common breakfasts in Italy.
Poland Edit
St. Martin’s croissant from Poznań, Poland
On 11 November, St. Martin’s Day is celebrated in the Polish region of Greater Poland, mainly in its capital city Poznań. On this day, the people of Poznań purchase and eat considerable amounts of sweet, crescent-shaped pastries called rogale świętomarcińskie (“St. Martin’s croissants”). They are made specially for this occasion from puff pastry with a filling made of ground white poppy seeds, almonds, raisins, and nuts.
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