The Tick – Season 2 Episode 2 (2019)
Directed by Romeo Tirone
Written by Mark Ganek
Starring (in this scene): Peter Serafinowicz as The Tick, Griffin Newman as Arthur Everest
Chef’s Note: Happy National Croissant Day!
Yet as recently as the 19th century, the French viewed the croissant as a foreign novelty, sold only in special Viennese bakeries in the pricier parts of Paris. And how it came to France in the first place remains obscured by layer upon layer of legend.
Experts do agree that the croissant was inspired by the Austrian kipfel, a crescent-shaped baked good featuring a generous amount of butter or lard and sometimes sugar and almonds. According to popular lore, the kipfel originated in 1683 as a comestible celebration of Austrian victory over the Ottomans at the siege of Vienna. The story follows that a baker, up early to make bread, saved the city when he heard the Turks tunneling underneath the city and sounded an alarm. The kipfel’s curved shape, said to mimic the crescent moon of the Ottoman flag, then would seem to pay poetic tribute to the indomitable spirit of a city that resisted a powerful invading force… But the kipfel existed long before the Ottoman siege of Vienna.
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Wherever the croissant originally came from, it is firmly ensconced in French bakery tradition today. The most popular is undoubtedly the croissant au beurre, or butter croissant, not to be confused with the croissant ordinaire, which is made with margarine. In fact, the more beautiful, typically crescent-shaped croissants you see in your bakery window are often the ordinaires, a butter croissant is more straight than curved and is worth the extra centimes!