
19.06.2012 / Food & Leisure
Perfectly fragrant
Flour, eggs, water, salt, sugar, and above all butter – lots of it. These are the simple ingredients of one of the most divine things in the world: the croissant. Soft, slightly salted and fragrant: that’ how the perfect croissant is supposed to be.
We went hunting for it in Paris - where else? – visiting some of the most prestigious bakeries and pastry shops in town and trying to make a comparatively impartial list of the best croissants.
We tried 10 croissants in two days and judged them according to some simple criteria: external appearance (color, crust, flaking, swelling), internal appearance (alveolation, humidity, internal flaking), smell (perceived notes, intensity and persistence of the fragrance) and taste (intensity and persistence of the prevailing aromas – mostly butter).
Here are the top five croissants we spotted:
1. Des Gâteaux et du Pain
Their croissant is a veritable masterpiece: swollen, flaked and with just the right alveolation. Its intense bread fragrance is coupled with delicate butter and wheat notes and a pleasant contrast between the crisp crust and the slightly humid heart.
2. Dominique Saibron
Here’s another address you should not miss – even judging from the long queue in front of its doors. The croissants have a delicate butter fragrance, but as soon as you you bite them you will perceive a soft wheat note. All tastes will melt harmoniously and irresistibly in your mouth.
3. Gerard Mulot
We loved Gerard Mulot’s croissant for its perfect elongated shape, its nice flaking and the rich internal alveolation.
The perfume is deeply buttery thanks to top quality fresh butter. The salted note is slightly more perceivable than in the other croissants we tried – a plus which completes the sugar-and-butter mixture by enhancing its fragrance.
4. Boulangerie Pichard
This awarded bakery and pastry shop is pretty famous for the taste of its croissants, not to mention the fact that they are comparatively cheap – merely 7 cents as opposed to the usual 1 euro or more.
Although they didn’t exactly steal our heart away, these gold-crusted and not-too-puffed-up croissants are an undoubtedly top-quality artisanal product.
5. Blé Sucré (picture)
Intensly fragrant and pleasantly buttery, croissants are not the only attraction at this nice pastry shop with alfresco tables. We also immensely appreciated their delicious pan au chocolat… We should probably get back for another exploraion!
Links
http://www.qype.fr/place/110800-Boulangerie-Pichard-Paris




