Who is the Foodie? It doesn’t really matter. Bacon is god. Wine cures anything. If you believe those two facts, then we’re going to get on fine. This means you have discovered the power of food to make life better. This knowledge is imperative to the art of living well.The Bacon Croissant Competition.
Posted in Bacon, Side orders on 24. Aug, 2010
The nice folks at Eat In magazine hosted a bacon croissant competition this morning. And they asked me and a couple other foodies to help judge. Now for someone who’s idea of the perfect croissant is one with bacon in it, you can imagine the salivating that was going on from when I woke up this morning to when I made it to their offices on Bree Street. I basically needed a bib.
Sadly there were only three croissants to judge from, though I think our arteries pumped a sigh of relief. But you can’t really qualify the result as the ‘be all and end all of bacon croissant quality’ in Cape Town. And one of the three happened to not have bacon in it, a sad oversight in an otherwise good croissant. But, hey stick three croissants in front of me and I’m not going to complain. Especially when one of them is from Jardine Bakery, who tied on appearance (with the Taj) but cleaned up on the taste and texture categories and was the overwhelming winner. What a great start to the day, and hopefully Eat In will host a few more contests with more entrants in the future.
Note: Croissants have a varied origin, depending on who you believe. Apparently though, they have nothing to do with mysterious war victories or the crescent on the Turkish flag. The real origin appears to be an Austrian baker in Paris in the early 1800′s. Regardless of where the croissant originates, there is no doubt it is the most famous French pastry in the world. Can you name any pastry more famous? I can’t. And when they taste this good, who needs anything else.
Another note: several croissants died in the writing of this article.
Did Melissa’s not enter? They are my favourite when it comes to croissants and bacon.
nope, but i am positive there will be a rerun with many more entrants… mmm, can’t wait actually.
Great meeting you this morning! I’m all for round 2, with more restaurants involved. And at this stage of the day, I’m now wishing that I did take Anelde up on that doggie bag offer.
Yummo! Sign me up for round 2!
Either of you experiencing the shakes, and shortness of breath? Might just possibly be suffering withdrawals.. Jardine tomorrow morning? Good. Thought so.
Mr Foodie,
The croissant is an often misunderstood pastry. Many diners are used to the variety that are akin to a dog’s play toy that for some reason pollute bakery shelves in numerous establishments around town. I am rarely impressed by what has been put on offer in Cape town and have two suggestions to add some more content to your post above as it left me feeling a bit disappointed: sort of like putting a croissant in front of someone without any accoutrements (another great French word that is part of the new linga franca – ain’t that ironic…). For example:
1) Discuss the sort of attributes you enjoy about croissants. “Flaky” is definitely top of the list. “Rich & buttery” also come to mind. i.e. demonstrate your knowledge and discuss the items being reviewed beyond who made them. What was served with the croissants? Where they warm? What was the texture like? Come on. Show us what you’ve got.
2) Three croissants a competition does not make (Eat In – shame on you). I would like to see contenders put forward including the SPAR, (that’s right) in Constantia. The last I checked about 4 months ago, they’ve got a good thing going, but get there early, ‘else they’re gone. The BEST SA croissant, however, is not to be found in CT. It’s in Knysna at Ile de Pain (Bread Island for the cunning linguists out there.) Rarely do I use the word “heavenly”, but in this case it is the correct one. A single croissant is not enough when it comes to these mechants garcons (that’s “bad boys” en francais, if you didn’t know). They are top shelf delish. BTW – If you need my tasting skills for the next round, count me in.
Totally agree that Spar in Constantia have very good croissants and dont even get me started on il de pain.. OH. MY. GOD !!!