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Nothing matches the croissant as a casing for a semi-open sandwich that can become the centerpiece on any table. Pushpesh Pant on the exotically shaped breads
They became suspicious of the unusual noises and alerted the defenders. To cut a long story short, the Turks were routed and the patriotic bakers were granted the right to bake these exotically shaped breads to commemorate this event. The crescent formed the important emblem on the Turkish flag and biting into a croissant was literally devouring the enemy. The croissant are indeed delightful treats flakey and crisp on the outside and soft and airy within. The closest another bread comes to it is the Lakhnavi kulcha that accompanies the nihari. You can have a very satisfying breakfast composed of just croissants and coffee sweet or savory, warm to touch, fresh from the oven. They are equally welcome as a teatime snack fortified with preserves and a dab of butter the perfect counterpoint to dainty finger sandwiches. If you can lay your hands on the mini-croissants these can be the base for many an unusual cocktail canap`E9. The croissants are undeniably rich a lot of butter does get folded in when the pastry dough is being prepared. In some countries, the bakers are obliged by law to use nothing else but butter. However, the Indian baker more often than not uses margarine or vanaspati equally unfriendly for the choked arteries but then we are not asking you to make it a part of your daily diet. Surely you can splurge one in a while and treat yourself to something out of the ordinary. In any case, you can lighten the filling by substituting yogurt for mayonnaise and replacing red meats with whiter flesh or better still packing half moon with a veggie-fruity combo. Trying to bake a batch of croissants requires a fair amount of practice so it might be better to buy what you need from the neighborhood bakery. |
Have
you ever wondered why the delicious bread rolls called croissants
are shaped like a half moon? The year was 1686 and Budapest, the
Hungarian capital, was besieged by invading Turks. One night, the Turk
soldiers tired to sneak in by digging an underground tunnel to strike at
the heart of the city. At that hour of night only the bakers were awake
hard at work to supply fresh bread to their patrons in the morning.