2023-05-29 15:44:00
A Sunday and public holiday tradition: in the morning, take your time over breakfast and eat croissants and chocolate rolls. That said, beware: even in bakeries, they are not always handcrafted. So how to sort things out?
Sunday morning is a ritual for many Belgians. Pick up your croissants at the local bakery and savor these sweet treats with your family.
In one bakery we visited, the pastries are homemade, but more and more bakeries would be tempted by the ease of industrial croissants that just have to be baked.
A trend confirmed (off camera) by a specialized store which offers a wide range of these frozen products.
“We are selling more and more of them, but it would be difficult to broach this subject in a report. It would put us at odds with our customers who are faced with an increase in the price of raw materials and a shortage of labour. That’s why they resort to this solution”indicates a specialized supplier.
These consumer products are improving, many craftsmen recognize it. So how to distinguish the industrial from the homemade. We submitted a box of frozen croissants to a pastry chef.
“We see that it’s very light, it’s not great. It’s really for gas pumps or repairs. Cooking on site is one thing, but manufacturing on site is another thing. I recommend the fact House”says Renauld, a baker.
Making on site, favoring quality products, is also the choice of an award-winning pastry chef. “That way, I’m sure my croissants are the same and have the same weight”, says Damian Cassimon, elected “Croissant d’Or 2023”.
From preparing the dough to baking, three days are needed to make these croissants. But he assures him, this patience is rewarded. “Here, we see the different layers of dough and butter. We will thus recognize the croissant which is made by the artisan”adds Damian.
A difference that is found on the shelf. “You can see in the lamination. You can see the difference with the butter, dough, butter, dough, in the different layers. If I cut it in half, you can see all the cells. It’s a fairly open structure. sees that it’s not chewing gum like in the industrial ones”, says Damian.
In this pastry, no frills. The choice remains limited. Difficult to offer a wide range when the products are homemade.
“The DNA of a master baker-pastry maker is to make his products and not to open boxes”underlines Albert Denoncin, the president of the French-speaking bakery federation.
Some professionals claim a label for homemade pastries. But the federation of pastry chefs fears an additional layer of control and paperwork. It is therefore up to customers to make their taste buds work.
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