Where do croissants come from?
Croissants are linked with France, but they developed from the Austrian kipferl, a crescent-shaped bread roll. Viennese bakers brought it to Paris in the 1830s, and French bakers later created the flaky croissant.
The kipferl, a crescent-shaped roll, has been made in Austria since at least the 1200s. Around 1838, an Austrian officer named August Zang opened a Viennese bakery in Paris that sold kipferl and other Austrian pastries. They became fashionable, and Parisian bakers began making their own versions, called croissants.
The croissant as we know it, made from laminated puff pastry dough, appeared in France in the early 1900s. French recipes for the flaky version were published in the 1900s and 1910s. Pastries made from laminated yeast dough, like croissants, are called viennoiserie, meaning Viennese things, honoring their Austrian roots.
A famous legend
A popular story says the croissant was invented in Vienna in 1683 to celebrate the defeat of the Ottoman siege, with its crescent shape mocking the Ottoman flag. Food historians say there is no evidence for this legend.
Did You Know?
France celebrates its love of pastries with competitions for the best croissant in Paris, judged by professional bakers.