Baker calls for croissants to be à la mode and not ‘de la merde’
A BAKER from Nice has launched a campaign to save France’s traditional croissant.
Frédéric Roy, 46, who runs a bakery near the Promenade des Anglais, struck a national chord after lamenting that the majority of croissants sold in French boulangeries were, in his words, “de la merde”.
“They barely look or taste like the real thing,” he lamented. “A bad croissant gives a bad impression of our national heritage.
“I want the French to be able to buy a croissant knowing it is made with proper raw materials.”
He is calling for a decree creating a special “traditional” label for the quintessential French pastries, guaranteeing they are made from traditional flour with no additives, contain quality butter with a local appellation and are baked on the premises.
After years working in America, Mr Roy said: “Today it is probably easier to find a proper croissant in Los Angeles than it is in France, and yet it is a pillar of our gastronomy”.
He added: “To call yourself an artisan baker you have to bake bread on the premises, but not croissants.” As a result, only three in every 20 artisan bakers bake their own.
In despair, he sent a letter to the French prime minister warning that France’s cherished crescent-shaped pastry was in grave danger.
And his call has been taken up by the government, which this week launched “taste week” in France to raise awareness of eating well.
Though quintessentially French, the croissant appears to have been introduced to the country by an Austrian baker who opened a Viennese bakery in Paris in 1839. The east European Kipferl, a possible ancestor of the croissant, has been documented as far back as the 13th century.