August Zang and the French Croissant: How Viennoiserie Came to France

Yes an Austrian brought the croissant to France. But it wasn't Marie-Antoinette. Half a century after her time, an Austrian officer opened a bakery in Paris which became the place to go. The Boulangerie Viennoise introduced Viennese techniques later applied to the baguette, and was known for its Viennese loaves and its kipfel - small rolls in the shape of a crescent. Or, as the French say, croissant. August Zang didn't stay long - having brought "viennoiserie" to France, he went back to Vienna to found the newspaper Die Presse, and with it, the modern Austrian daily press. -- This work discusses the history of the kipfel, why two common tales about the croissant are myths, how the Boulangerie was started and its influence on French baking, and August Zang's subsequent career. This second edition includes a closer look at the rue de Richelieu in the nineteenth century and at Viennese baked goods in general, an expanded analysis of Zang's innovations and influence, a glance at the changes in bakery decor and revised overviews of the baguette and the changes in the croissant, as well as additional mentions of Zang in the American press.