Thailand loves the French croissant
It seems that the Thai are currently going crazy for that greasy, sweet crescent-shaped breakfast roll called a croissant.
There is a real croissant mania going on, which sometimes results in long queues at bakeries. The croissants, with all sorts of flavours, are unstoppable. You can order in advance, but even then it can take quite a long time before the enthusiast can sink his teeth into his favorite croissant.
Croissants have actually been available in Thailand for a very long time. In the early 70s, the croissant was already part of a variety of bread types for breakfast at the Dusit Thani Hotel, the former President Hotel and the Siam Intercontinental and also available at the Saigon Bakery and the Little Home Bakery. quality "perfect", but also very pricey. That got better in 1997 when the French supermarket chain Carrefour opened its doors in Thailand with affordable and tasty croissants.
Croissants are now easier to find in bakeries throughout Thailand. Due to the arrival of good training opportunities, where French chefs initiate newcomers to the art of croissant baking, the number of suppliers has increased explosively. The croissants of, for example, the bakery chains of Paul, Eric Kayser and Gontran Cherrier are rather expensive, but there are numerous "amateurs" who have opened their own shop. The popularity of the croissant in Thailand is mainly due to social media. As a result, the number of providers increased, customers gave their opinion on Facebook and other social media, and popularity increased further.
(chettarin / Shutterstock.com)
Much can be said about the taste of the croissants offered, but it is not possible to give a uniform definition of the “tastiest croissant”. It was described on a Facebook page as follows: “You should enjoy a croissant. Don't be so serious about the content and texture inside. If you like a certain croissant, that's the best croissant for you.”
On the website of Thai PBS World there is a somewhat longer story about the hype of the croissant in Thailand, see: www.thaipbsworld.com/crazy-about-croissants
I love a real croissant with cheese, but not to eat with jam.
Unfortunately, Big C's croissants are fake.
That's just bread dough in the shape of a croissant.
Seems like a typical example of heavily exaggerated 'hyping' a product by pretending it is popular, in the hope that it might become popular..,,,,,
No, it's a message taken from Thaivisa.
What I find remarkable, not so long ago you bought a croissant at the bakery for 16 thb, now those same croissants cost between 29 and 35 thb.
I also see that it is a copied message - albeit not from Thaivisa - but that makes no difference to my reaction, does it? It's just hype, whoever writes it.
Good morning, actually the croissant was invented in Austria, after the victory over the Ottomans. Coincidentally, it was in the newspaper here in NL this week. In Chiang Mai you also have very good French bakers nowadays.
True and mn in Nana bakery in the Santithaam neighborhood.
Most croissants in Thailand are not edible. At the tesco they are wrapped in plastic all day. Per 4 pieces. Funnest for a croissant. Following the American example, most Thai croissants contain sugar. Brrrrr.....
Then you should buy them from the real baker, for example Yamazaki, they are not inferior to the French, and real butter.
Yamazaki.... I am not one of the large majority of Dutch people who are overweight, overweight, and therefore run the risk of ending up in ICU in the event of a corona infection. When I look at Yamazaki and a few other factory sandwich makers, only one percent or 10% of the range is suitable for someone who lives consciously and pays attention to their health, the rest of the range consists of soggy, greasy and often too sweet dishes. The 'German hard rolls' are my favorite 'and I leave all confectionery rolls with, for example, a lot of chocolate and other fatty ingredients for others.
Yamazaki otherwise has nice small baguettes and also nice hard sandwiches….
Yes, my favorite sandwiches, banquettes or. hard buns. The aforementioned bakery sells too many of these sandwiches to Thais and foreigners in Korat, so that the stock is constantly running out. Fortunately, a Thai solution has been found by not making them anymore, which saves a lot of sales and work for the staff. We would then say: bake twice as many and then sales and profit will increase; but no it's just staff that decides. By the way, the price has gone from 2 baht to 12 baht in about 24 years, about 4% more, and that was pg before the war in Ukraine, so prices will still rise from
majority ? and I read from your story that you are biased some people can get through
disease do little about being overweight be glad you don't have a tendency to get fat and that you don't belong to the majority! but let everyone in his worth and hope for your patronizing. by the way I am not overweight either 🙂 1.85 and 80 kg!
I'm not biased, but I've been involved as a conscious eater for 40 years since I was 15 years old. If you do not take into account all the advice about too much, too fat, too sweet or no fruit and vegetables and too little exercise, you will bring the disaster of getting too fat on yourself. Only a small group has a pathological predisposition, and vice versa, many chronically ill people are too fat, in turn due to their lifestyle. Let me stick to this but those with a healthy lifestyle know what I mean.
Pre-packed, baked and ready-made, they are also not available in the Netherlands (and France). The butter is missing and the sugar has been added too much. But that is also what you pay for at AH, Lidl or Bakker Bart. Cheap, cheaper, cheapest.
Also in TH you have the same high quality croissants as in Paris. Provided you pay for it.
The croissant is actually a smart product; lots of air, sugar and fat….
yes,
Then you should have watched Central World last week.
There were queues of up to 300 meters to get hold of the offer: soggy “dots” sprinkled with icing sugar and filled with something in between butter, cream or cream. 4 pieces for 100 bth.
I was allowed to take a bite of it!! Very sweet and as if the lard fat sticks to your palate. TIT
Indeed: not to eat, nice name, but hyped up hype.
Dined twice in my life for lack of anything else.
Many a bakery I walked past had a strange, unnatural smell. Various products are also sweet in a nasty way. A good croissant is delicious, but I think it is still difficult to find in Thailand. Oh well, I can get by just fine during my holiday in Thailand without a traditional baker or other European specialties. I like to believe that the Thais are open to that, or cheap and -worse- derivatives.
Excellent croissants at the big C. Best price quality.
BIG c croissants consist of ordinary bread dough.
Diagonally opposite where I live there is a bakery that sells filled croissants. With ham, cheese and a lettuce leaf. I have a regular order there about four times a week. Such a croissant and a kind of ciabatta with the same filling. Both for 40 baht each. They see me coming from afar with this regular order… A great breakfast, you know.
Croissants are the order of the day in Cambodia. Just like baguettes, I saw residents walking with them under their arm. French influence. By the way, the whole Cambodian kitchen has a surprising French touch. Worth trying!
In Cambodia they have that typical French crispy baguette and croissants, which I never discovered in Thailand, not even with Paul in Bangkok.
The French influence can not only be found in Cambodian cuisine, they have also left their culinary traces in Viet Nam and Laos. So you can find good croissants, baguettes and other bread there. In Thailand it is usually (literally and figuratively) a poor substitute.
Just like with the pizzas: a thick layer of bread dough with a little bit of topping.
I consider myself lucky to work at a university (in Bangrak, Bangkok) that has a degree in Hospitality Management and where fresh croissants (and also pain au chocolat) are baked and sold every working day. And yes, by students led by a French chef.
How are the slicewich selling participants in Thailand doing? Do you already have a croissant on the menu?
Did anything come of it then? Apart from the efforts to recruit franchisees, I have heard nothing more about it.
Well, I'm also curious how the slicewich went.
Wasn't that a project of a Dutchman who was going to market that product under franchise?
Are there people who can earn a living with it?
Regards,
jos k.
I fear that there is no dry bread to be made with the Dutch sandwich in Thailand……
I buy my croissants from the MAKRO in Warin Chamrap and they are good to eat and not too sweet, but there are always ant-bitches that only the real Parisian? want to eat a croissant, let them emigrate to Paris. My Thai wife and friends like them.
Hans
The fact that most croissants in Thailand are not as tasty as they sometimes look is simply due to a lack of craftsmanship.
Moreover, most bakeries, as far as I have seen them here, are not suitable for making and processing the dough as it should be.
Croissants are made from so-called "turned up" dough, a kind of cross between puff pastry and bread dough.
You may be familiar with the “Danish Coffee Luxury” in various braided shapes, often filled with baked raisins and cream and finished with a layer of apricot purée.
This product is also made from twisted leavened dough.
You need good, preferably American patent flour, a dry strong type of flour that is not available on every corner of the street, which also explains why most bread here is a bit weak and not well-baked.
And it takes considerable skill and craftsmanship to make and process this dough.
The butter is packed in the partly risen very soft dough and then rolled out and folded several times and rolled out and folded again, the so-called touring, and you can actually only do that successfully in a bakery where the temperature does not exceed a degree or 22.
Once the dough has been processed into the desired product, it must proof in a somewhat warmer environment before it goes into the oven.
In short, making a good croissant is a bit more difficult than it seems, it takes attention and also some time.
But most importantly, love for the profession!
Pim Foppen, ex-teacher consumptive technology 2nd degree
La Boulange is a good address on the 3rd road in Pattaya, and just past the roundabout (Dolphin) towards Naklua
there is also a good (La Baguette) Prices are slightly higher, but quality.
Great, I'm enjoying all these comments again.
Hate and envy and know-it-all, it often seems that certain people are waiting for another item to come out to criticize.
Then I think to myself, try to enjoy your old age a bit in beautiful Thailand and try not to get annoyed by a different opinion, you only have yourself with that.