Pain au chocolat

Pain au chocolat (French pronunciation: [pɛ̃ o ʃɔ.kɔ.la] (listen), literally chocolate bread; also known as chocolatine in the south-west part of France and in Canada, is a type of viennoiserie sweet roll consisting of a cuboid-shaped piece of yeast-leavened laminated dough, similar in texture to a puff pastry, with one or two pieces of dark chocolate in the centre.

Pain au chocolat
Pain au chocolat
Alternative namesChocolatine, Chocolate bread, couque au chocolat
TypeViennoiserie sweet roll
Place of originFrance
Serving temperatureHot or Cold
Main ingredientsYeast-leavened dough, chocolate[1]

Pain au chocolat is made of the same layered doughs as a croissant. Often sold still hot or warm from the oven, they are commonly sold alongside croissants in French bakeries and supermarkets.

In France, the name of the pain au chocolat varies by region:

  • In the Hauts-de-France and in Alsace, the words "petit pain au chocolat" or "petit pain" are used.
  • In central France, in southern France and in Paris, the words "pain au chocolat” are used.
  • In southwestern France (Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie) and in Canada, the word "chocolatine" is used.

In Belgium, the words "couque au chocolat" are also used.

They are often sold in packages at supermarkets and convenience stores, or made fresh in pastry shops.

  • In Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Ireland, Denmark and the United Kingdom, they are sold in most bakeries, supermarkets and cafés.
  • In Germany, they are sold less frequently than chocolate croissants, but both are referred to as "Schokoladencroissant".
  • In the United States and often Canada, they are commonly known as "chocolate croissants" [2].
  • In Belgium's Flanders region, they are sold in most bakeries, and referred to as "chocoladekoek" or "chocoladebroodje".
  • In Portugal and Spain, they are sold in bakeries and supermarkets, as napolitanas (i.e., from Naples).
  • In Mexico, they are also most commonly found in bakeries and supermarkets, and are known as chocolatines.
  • In El Salvador and Brazil, they are referred to "croissant de chocolate".
  • In Australia and New Zealand, they are commonly referred to as "chocolate croissants", and are sold freshly baked in most bakeries and supermarkets.

Origins and history

Legend has it that Marie-Antoinette introduced the croissant to France, but croissants and pains au chocolat are a relatively modern invention.[3] The word croissant, which refers to a plain form of pain au chocolat shaped like a half-moon or "crescent", made its entry in the French dictionary in 1863.[4] The type of pastry, called "viennoiserie" in French, was introduced in the early 19th century, when August Zang, an Austrian officer, and Ernest Schwarzer, an Austrian aristocrat, founded a Viennese bakery in Paris located at 92, rue de Richelieu.

Originally, croissants and pains au chocolat were made from a brioche base but later evolved to incorporate a buttery flaky dough (pâte feuilletée).

See also

References
  1. Torres, Jacques. "Croissants, Pain au Chocolat, Pain Raisin and Danish". Food Network. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  2. Tuesday's Tasting - Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants
  3. "History of the Croissant". 1-800-Bakery.com. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  4. "D'ou viennent les sacrosaints Croissants et Pains au Chocolat?" (in French). Club Doctissimo. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.