Pain au chocolat (French pronunciation: [p?? o ??.k?.la] ( listen), literally chocolate bread; also known as chocolatine in the south-west part of France and in Canada or couque au chocolat in Belgium), 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 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.
Video Pain au chocolat
Origins
Legend has it that Marie-Antoinette introduced the croissant to France, but croissants and pains au chocolat are a relatively modern invention. 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. 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 Richelieu.
Originally, croissants and pains aux chocolat were made from a brioche base but later evolved to incorporate a buttery flaky dough (pâte feuilletée).
Maps Pain au chocolat
International distribution
They are often sold in packages at supermarkets and convenience stores, or made fresh in pastry shops.
In Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Ireland 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 "pain au chocolat".
In the United States, they are commonly known as "chocolate croissants" .
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 New Zealand, they are commonly referred to as "chocolate croissants", and are sold freshly baked in most bakeries and supermarkets.
Controversies
In 2012, Jean-François Copé created a turmoil when he said that "thugs" living in French suburbs were "prying pains au chocolat out of the hands of children during Ramadan." Later, when asked about their price in 2016 during his campaign for the primary of the right and centre, he claimed that each cost only 10 to 15 cents whereas this very common French viennoiserie's price is around 1,10 euro; this statement has been seen as an illustration that politicians were disconnected from the real lives of French people and provoked many reactions and mockings.
See also
- List of desserts
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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