There is an article in the NYT today about a British super store that is changing the shape of the croissants they sell from the traditional crescent shape to a linear shape. The reason for this change was, to quote an official from the super store, the “spreadability factor” – linear croissants are easier to spread jam and such than crescent shaped ones. I should point out that croissants have been around, according to the Larousse Gastronomique, since 1686. I mention their history in another post here. It seems the crescent shape hasn’t been a problem for the past 329 years, why now? I would suggest two reasons – The first is economic and second is how corporations do business in the brave new world. You can fit more linear croissants on a sheet tray than crescent shaped ones so you can make more money in the same amount of oven real estate. The second, the British super store is using this as a marketing gimmick to garner publicity – who cares about tradition.
Since I see myself as a traditional baker, a steward of the ancient art of baking, I will always make my croissants crescent shaped. When you eat one of my croissants you will be eating something that came about from a conflict between two countries over 300 years ago. And I think that is pretty neat.
