Croissants: The Surprising History of France’s Most Iconic Pastry

Croissants: The Surprising History of France’s Most Iconic Pastry

In the first episode of Season Six of Fabulously Delicious: The French Food Podcast, we’re diving into the irresistible world of the croissant — one of the most iconic pastries in French cuisine and a beloved breakfast staple around the globe. With its golden crust, delicate flakes, and rich buttery layers, the croissant is instantly recognisable, but its story is far more complex than many people realise.

This episode explores the croissant’s surprising origins, tracing its roots back to Central Europe and the Austrian kipferl, long before it became a symbol of France. We unpack the myths, legends, and historical milestones that shaped its evolution — from crescent-shaped pastries linked to Vienna’s past, to the cultural exchanges that helped bring the croissant into French baking tradition.

You’ll also learn how French bakers transformed the croissant into the light, laminated masterpiece we know today, using refined techniques, leavened dough, and layers of butter to create its signature texture. We explore the rise of viennoiserie in France, the impact of influential figures like August Zang, and how baking innovations — including new ovens and methods — changed Parisian pastry forever.

Finally, we look at how the croissant became a cornerstone of French daily life, inspiring regional variations, spin-off pastries like pain au chocolat, and ongoing debates about shape, ingredients, and authenticity. Whether you’re a passionate baker, a lover of French food, or simply someone who enjoys a perfect pastry with coffee, this episode reveals why the croissant remains one of the most delicious cultural icons in the world.

Transcript

Speaker: 0:03

Bonjour. I'm Andrew Pryor, and The French Food Podcast, the original podcast for French food in English. As a MasterChef Australia alum, French food author and longtime France based food obsessive, I share the stories behind the dishes, chefs and traditions that make cuisine in France so irresistible. We'll talk about flavor, culture and also a little bit of culinary history. In today's episode of Fabulously Delicious, we're diving into the buttery, flaky world of the croissant. Tracing its journey from place in French boulangeries. The croissant golden, buttery of the world's most beloved and utterly irresistible. It's a staple of French breakfasts and cafes worldwide, but behind those delicate layers lies a fascinating history, one shaped by centuries of culinary innovation, cross-cultural influences, and a journey that stretches far beyond the streets of Paris. Croissants are a type of pastry that made from laminated dough, where the layers of butter and dough are folded together to create its signature flaky, airy texture. Golden on the outside, soft and Croissants can be enjoyed plain or filled with chocolate, almond cream, or even savory ingredients. More than just a pastry, it's a perfect example of French baking craftsmanship, combining simple ingredients with meticulous technique to create something irresistible. Believe it or not, the story of in France at all. It begins in central Europe with a pastry called the Austrian kipfer, shaped in the now iconic crescent. The kipfel has been around since at least the thirteenth century in some sources hint it may be even Olga. Unlike the delicate, buttery croissants we know today, kipfer come in all sorts of shapes and flavors. They're sweet, they're savory, filled, all playing, and we're often dense. More bread like. It was a humble pastry, but one that would lay the foundation for one of the world's most beloved treats. The crescent shape of the kipfer It carried deep symbolic meaning One of the most famous legends ties the pastry to the siege of Vienna in sixteen eighty three, when the city successfully defended itself against the Ottoman Turks. According to the story, bakers working late into the night were the first to hear the Turks tunnelling beneath the city walls in celebration of Vienna's dramatic victory. They baked pastries shaped like found on the Ottoman flag. The crescent shaped, therefore It was a culinary tribute to a historic moment, a way for bakers to mark triumph through food. Now, whilst historians debate story, it demonstrates how food entwined long before the Beyond symbolism, the chypre itself was versatile and deeply embedded in Central European baking traditions. These early pastries came in sweet, savory, or filled with They were practical as well as symbolic, made to be nourishing and long lasting, and they reflected the creativity of medieval bakers who adapted recipes to local ingredients and tastes. The kieffer's design and functionality set the stage for centuries of evolution, establishing a template that would later inspire French bakers to refine and transform it into the delicate, buttery croissant that we all know today. Another Viennese legend adds further intrigue to the story of the Crescent. Following the battle, soldiers and officers were rewarded for their courage. Among them a Polish soldier, spy would later become famous as the The blonde wash at the Blue During the Ottoman retreat, this sacks of coffee beans, Curious, he had the beans ground the inn's patrons, but it really catch on. There was no Instagram then. Undeterred, he found a clever He paired the coffee with a like the Turkish crescent. This combination proved more appealing to the Viennese and helped popularize coffee drinking in the city, even if some details of the legends are romanticized. It reinforces the connection culture, and the emergence of a eventually travel westward. The croissants journey to France exchange in the eighteenth Austrian culinary worlds marriage and aristocratic taste. One of the most famous figures is Marie Antoinette, the Louis XVI in seventeen seventy. Popular lore often credits her including the Kepler, to the bakers to new ideas about shape, Whilst historians caution that she personally invented or influence on French pastry Marie Antoinette's personal love of Austrian pastries went beyond simple curiosity. She is said to have brought her Versailles, someone who was homeland and could recreate them The Queen's taste for these pastries helped elevate them from a regional curiosity to a coveted delicacy amongst French aristocrats. This influence sparked bakers, who began combining ingredients, more butter, and Over time, these innovations laid the groundwork for the modern croissant, transforming it from a dense Viennese bread into the light, flaky, buttery masterpiece that has become an enduring symbol of French baking today. The term viennoiserie comes from reflecting the Austrian origins It refers to a category of baked bread and pastry, often made butter, sugar, eggs, or milk. Unlike ordinary bread, viennoiseries are sweet or indulgent, but unlike traditional pastries like puff pastry tarts, they usually involve some form of leavening that gives them a soft, airy interior. The term itself began to appear the nineteenth century, as styles and techniques, Auguste SAG and other Viennese Viennoiseries quickly became craftsmanship of French golden crust, delicate textures, A wide variety of pastries fall under the category of amino acids. The most famous example is, of with other laminated delights The panel, raisin and croissant Other examples include the brioche with its rich buttery dough circuits, which are light puffs sprinkled with sugar pearls, and pan sweet, or Danish style pastries, which often feature fruit or custard fillings. While each viennoiserie has its own shape, flavour and method, what unites them is the combination of yeast leavened dough with rich, buttery or sweet ingredients, creating pastries that are indulgent yet versatile enough to be enjoyed at breakfast, brunch, or as a snack. Essentially, viennoiseries represent the French reinterpretation of Austrian baking techniques, elevating simple bread into something luxurious, flaky and irresistible. A quick pause. Want even more French Well, then you can join my where I share exclusive food the scenes podcast extras, and hear here on the show. You can subscribe for free or go and help support this podcast. Merci beaucoup! Find the link in the show notes pri fabulously dot com. If this podcast brings a little French joy into your life, you can support it directly via the link in the show notes for this episode. Your contribution helps keep independent and fuels future delicious research, of course. Merci, Infiniment. Your support means the world. The term croissant first appears in French texts in the nineteenth century. Literally means crescent in French, a nod to the pastry's distinctive shape. By this time, the croissant was beginning to transform from the denser bread like Austrian kipfer to something lighter and more delicate. French bakers were experimenting incorporating more butter and achieve, well, a finer texture These experiments marked a turning point, as what had once began at being a hearty, simple pastry began, evolving into a more elegant, refined treat that could rival the best of French patisserie. The croissant was gradually shedding its heavy Austrian roots whilst embracing the French flair for culinary sophistication, laying the foundation for the pastry we recognize today. At the heart of this modern technically known as pate lini. This meticulous technique butter into the dough, creating fat and dough when baked. The water in the butter heats layers apart and producing the that defines the croissant. The process requires skill and the layers won't separate butter can melt into the dough. The result, when done correctly, crisp on the outside, soft and practically melts in your mouth. A perfect combination of craftsmanship, chemistry, and centuries of culinary innovation. Laminated dough was a French bakers, transforming not entire category of pastries. This method allows for creative croissants and other filled or on the same technique. By mastering laminated dough, simple crescent shaped pastry artistry that could be the royal table. It also illustrates the French knack for refinement, taking something practical like a yeasted dough and turning it into an indulgent, luxurious experience. A key figure in the croissants transformation was August Zang, an Austrian entrepreneur who arrived in Paris in the eighteen thirties. Zang opened the Viennese bakery Boulangerie Noir's and introduced Parisians not only to Viennese pastries like the Viennese, but also to a new way of baking. Zang brought with him an revolutionary for Parisian Unlike French ovens, which often Zhang's oven allowed for more consistent baking and better crust formation, making pastries flakier more evenly browned and buttery. The technological innovation, the Austrian style pastries, Parisians and quickly set his had ever experienced before. French bakers were inspired not only by Zhang's pastries, but by the technique and tools he introduced. They began experimenting with their own recipes and adapting the baking methods he brought from Austria. The introduction of the steam oven helped them achieve the delicate, airy layers that would become the hallmark of the modern croissant. In this way, Zhang's influence He helped refine what was By the late nineteenth century, the croissant had evolved into the buttery, flaky pastry that we all know and love today and became a staple of Parisian bakeries, thanks in large part to Zang's bakery techniques and in transformative power of his oven. By the late nineteenth century, sight in Parisian boulangeries a beloved part of everyday life. They were served fresh and warm. Their golden, flaky layers of early morning customers and steaming cup of coffee or a hot In France, the croissant has than a simple pastry. It's an essential part of the breakfast, celebrated for its Traditionally, it's eaten plain, straight from the oven, sometimes with a pat of butter or a dollop of jam, and accompanied by a café au lait, providing the perfect start to the day. Its delicate texture, rich, aroma make it a ritual as much centuries of culinary craft and leisurely, enjoyable experience Across France, croissants take on subtle regional differences that reflect local taste and baking traditions. In Alsace, for example, croissants are often richer, made with extra butter to create an indulgent melt in your mouth texture. In Brittany, they may be they're filled with almond love of nut based pastries. Even within Paris, different bakeries have their own signature approaches, from the number of laminated layers to the degree of flakiness and browning. These regional variations demonstrate how French bakers embraced the croissant as a versatile canvas, adapting the classic crescent to suit local preferences, ingredients, and culinary heritage. Beyond these regional invented a variety of croissant iconic in their own right. The Panel chocolate, a filled with rich chocolate, is Whilst the Croissant Marmont almonds, adding sweetness and Other variations include fruit cheese croissants, and seasonal pistachio and even matcha. Nowadays, even after croissant It continued to evolve. The earliest written recipe for puff pastry, appeared in August Nouveau encyclopedia Culinaire. This version was already layers of butter and dough, but closer to the early Viennese It had the beginnings of the texture was not yet that light, with the perfect croissant. It wasn't until nineteen Sylvain Claude's Goy published became truly modern. Goy perfected the lamination and leavening process, creating a pastry that was cold and crisp on the outside, delicately airy on the inside, the very same croissant that fills French boulangeries today. The shape of a croissant can it is made. Traditional French butter straight, which allows the dough delicate, flaky layers that come In contrast, the crescent shaped croissant often found in commercial bakeries or mass produced versions are frequently made with margarine instead of butter. Margarine behaves differently in shape into a curve without the a less rich flavor and slightly straight, buttery croissant. So while both shapes are straight butter version is artisanal with a superior taste whereas the curved margarine and mass production. From its humble beginnings as a dense Austrian kipper to the delicate, buttery croissants that fill French cafés and boulangeries, today the croissant is more than just a pastry. It's a story of history, culture Every golden, flaky layer tells with dough and butter, of centuries of refinement, whether oven, filled with chocolate or The croissant remains a beloved Want more fabulously delicious Or you can follow me at Airdrie Threads, and at Fab French For bite sized French food the scenes moments and plenty of And if you want to watch the You can find full episodes on More food, more stories. More fabulous. Come join the party! It's three scrollable. A voila! That's the end of today's If this episode made you hungry, flights to France. Parfait. If you enjoyed it, leave a Share it with a fellow food I always love hearing from you. And if you like this episode on croissants, be sure to check out similar episodes on the dacquoise or puff pastry that I did with Marti Marcos by searching for them on the podcast platform that you're using to listen to Fabulously Delicious. There's plenty more Until next time. Eat well, stay curious, and remember life is better with butter. And as I always say, whatever Merci beaucoup. Bon app a atrevido.