"Tesco’s decision to straighten out its curly croissants has divided opinion among top French chefs and bakers who cannot settle on which shape is the most authentic – but one thing they can agree on is that the British have been eating them the wrong way anyway.
The supermarket chain said the move was prompted by its customers wanting to spread their butter and jam more easily, but some of France’s finest croissant connoisseurs are aghast at the thought of sullying the carefully crafted pastries with such mundane condiments.
Jean-Christophe Novelli, the former personal chef to the French Rothschilds, who now runs a cookery school in Hertfordshire that has been hailed as one of the world’s best, said the French would “absolutely not” spread butter or jam on their croissants.
“A croissant is something that you dip into a bowl of chocolate or coffee,” Novelli said. “But never in my whole life have I met someone from France who eats a croissant with jam.”
Vincent Roussel, the manager of the bistro at London’s Institut Français, the centre for French culture in the UK, said: “In England, lots of British [people] eat it with butter and jam, but in France we eat it plain. We don’t cut it to put something inside, unless it’s an almond croissant and then it’s a filling to put inside.
“I know that 90% of the people asking me for jam and butter are British or from another country. But the French always have it plain.”
But Richard Bertinet, whose Bertinet bakeries in Bath are renowned for their French bread and pastries, disagreed and said it was perfectly acceptable to add a dollop of jam to your breakfast croissant. As for butter, however, he said: “I don’t understand that. A croissant is full of butter already.”"
Source: In a twist: Tesco's decision to stop selling curved croissants sparks debate | Life and style | The Guardian
I've always eaten moi croissants the right way then, which was nice.
The supermarket chain said the move was prompted by its customers wanting to spread their butter and jam more easily, but some of France’s finest croissant connoisseurs are aghast at the thought of sullying the carefully crafted pastries with such mundane condiments.
Jean-Christophe Novelli, the former personal chef to the French Rothschilds, who now runs a cookery school in Hertfordshire that has been hailed as one of the world’s best, said the French would “absolutely not” spread butter or jam on their croissants.
“A croissant is something that you dip into a bowl of chocolate or coffee,” Novelli said. “But never in my whole life have I met someone from France who eats a croissant with jam.”
Vincent Roussel, the manager of the bistro at London’s Institut Français, the centre for French culture in the UK, said: “In England, lots of British [people] eat it with butter and jam, but in France we eat it plain. We don’t cut it to put something inside, unless it’s an almond croissant and then it’s a filling to put inside.
“I know that 90% of the people asking me for jam and butter are British or from another country. But the French always have it plain.”
But Richard Bertinet, whose Bertinet bakeries in Bath are renowned for their French bread and pastries, disagreed and said it was perfectly acceptable to add a dollop of jam to your breakfast croissant. As for butter, however, he said: “I don’t understand that. A croissant is full of butter already.”"
Source: In a twist: Tesco's decision to stop selling curved croissants sparks debate | Life and style | The Guardian
I've always eaten moi croissants the right way then, which was nice.
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