A croissant a day makes my day
by Derwin Pereira
I confess that I am partial towards the croissant. I am very, very partial. Every time I bite into a croissant, I am refreshed. My digestive juices flow faster, I want to eat on, my mind works faster, and I look forward more eagerly to the day ahead or even to what remains of it. I am not a big eater but a discerning one, not a gourmand but a gourmet. A croissant fits my tastes perfectly. But not the calories.
And why not? “Croissant”, like “gourmet” and even “gourmand”, tastes of the goodness of France. The French love food just as they love life. Life must be worth living if it is to be loved: Food must be worth eating in a life that offers so much else to love.
Naturally, then, my perfect croissant in Singapore comes from the famed establishment, Paris Baguette. True to the reputation of France’s Paris, which remains the international capital of good food to this day (rivalled in taste, if I may say, only by Italy’s Milan, the global capital of discerning fashion), Paris Baguette literally offers a taste of France in the shape of the croissant – and much else.
The other day, I ordered a croissant with Caesar chicken salad and Cranberry cream cheese bread from Paris Baguette. I ate to my heart’s content, which is to say that I ate like a Frenchman. Bacha Coffee and Tiong Bahru Bakery, too, make croissants worth the mention. Paris Baguette remains my first preference, though (their tuna mayo is heavenly).
That is not to say that there are no challengers to my culinary affiliations. No one could possibly be a Singaporean without being exposed to Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian cuisine. Rolina curry puff, Char Siew Pau, delicacies from Kopi Tiam and Yakun Kaya Toast compete with my European palate every day. Sometimes Europe wins, sometimes Asia does. But the good news is that I always win – because I do the ordering.
Every time I bite into a croissant, the richness of history feeds me. The croissant began its life in Austria as the German kipferl. The kipferl has been around from at least the 13th century. It was only in the 19th century that the kipferl turned into the croissant in France, when, in 1839, Austrian artillery officer August Zang founded a Viennese bakery in Paris. So, when I eat the croissant today, I eat the kipferl as well.
In the process, I constitute a small but important part of the transmission of European culture to Asia. Paris Baguette is an iconic manifestation of the continuity. Its popularity in Singapore attests to the way in which food bridges cultures while war divides them.
Here’s to the croissant!
