CROISSANTS
Croissant is the French word for „crescent”. A croissant is a crescent moon-shaped yeast bread or puff pastry.
According to a legend, croissants were first made around 1686. Some bakers in Budapest were working at night when they heard noises beneath them. When they wanted to find out about the noises, they found that Turkish invaders were digging tunnels under the city walls. The bakers immediately sounded the alarm, so the army blew up the tunnels, and the city was saved. As a reward, the bakers were allowed to bake and sell a special pastry to celebrate the victory over the Turks. The pastry was shaped like a crescent moon just like the symbol on the Turkish flag.
Croissants were not baked in France, though, for another 200 years. The first recipe for croissants appeared in a French cookbook in 1905. This recipe contained pounded almonds and sugar and was more like a heavy bread or cake.
In 1906, the first recipe for the modern croissant showed up in a French cookbook. This recipe used bread dough. A few years later a French baker decided to make croissants out of puff pastry, which is much lighter dough. This dough is rolled, buttered, and then folded in layers so that it expands when it is baked. In other words, it puffs up. Sometimes chocolate or cheese is added to the dough before it is rolled up and baked.
Nowadays, the croissant is a national symbol of France, just like the Eiffel Tower. The French usually eat them at breakfast. Sometimes croissants are cut in half and stuffed with meat or cheese to make a sandwich with them.
crescent [ˈkresnt] – mezzaluna
moon-shaped [muːn ʃeɪpt] – a forma di luna
puff-pastry [pʌf ˈpeɪstri] – pasta sfoglia
according to [əˈkɔːdɪŋ tuː] – secondo …
beneath [bɪˈniːθ] – sotto
to find out about [tu faɪnd aʊt əˈbaʊt] – sapere di
invader [ɪnˈveɪdə] – invasore
to dig a tunnel [tu dɪɡ ə ˈtʌnl̩] – scavare una galleria/tunnel
to sound the alarm [tu saʊnd ði əˈlɑːm] – dare l’allarme
to blow up [tu bləʊ ʌp] – esplodere
reward [rɪˈwɔːd] – ricompensa
to be allowed to [tu bi əˈlaʊd tuː] – essere permesso di
victory [ˈvɪktəri] – vittoria
shaped [ʃeɪpt] – a forma di …
to appear [tə əˈpɪə] – apparire
pounded almond [ˈpaʊndɪd ˈɑːmənd] – mandorle tritate
to be folded in layers [tu bi ˈfəʊldɪd ɪn ˈleɪəz] – piegato in strati
to expand [tə ɪkˈspænd] – espandere
to be stuffed with [tu bi stʌft wɪð] – farcito di
