Austria
might be a small landlocked country in central Europe, but it is the heart of the
continent. Its capital Vienna in the 17th century was known for the
best food in Europe and became the envy of the other European countries. Its
location by the Danube River connecting many countries attracted attention of
some enemies, and this was the cause for one of the most historical battles.
These two facts of food and battle bring a story of croissant.
The
baker named Bartholomew sat at the wooden table with his hands holding a copper
spoon and trying to see a mirror image of his face. He had plenty of free time
on his hands as provisions were scarce. Not finding his image, he put the spoon
down and tried to remember the bakery as it was two months ago before the
Vienna was besieged by the Turks. The empty corners were filled with sacks of
flour, now gone. The bakers were buzzing like bees sifting flour and filling
the room with a white fog. There were chatters and laughs, which they tried to
keep muffled not to awake the people yet sleeping. Now it was replaced with
sadness and pain.
The
first rays of sun woke up Bartholomew from his pondering and reminded him to
make his way to the Cathedral’s tower and check the view outside the city walls
for any chance of spotting assistance coming their way. He wanted to be the
first one to break the news, hopefully good news to the Viennese people.
He navigated through the narrow winding streets to the
center of the town occupied with magnificent Cathedral. After climbing the last
step of the steep stairs and reaching the highest level of the tower, he looked
through a tiny window. “Oh,” he gasped saddened by the view of hundreds of
tents outside the city walls. The tents stretched out for miles, almost
creating a city on their own. But it was the unwanted city of the enemy, who
cut access to the rest of the world including the transport of provisions. “How
much longer can we withstand this siege?” he questioned.
He
was about to turn around, when another gasp escaped his mouth, “Oh, I can’t
believe it.” Almost in the center, he spotted two men with painted faces and
dressed in colorful clothes. One was throwing balls and the other was making
faces to entertain the army. “They even brought a clown and a juggler to keep
them entertained in such times.” Deeply saddened by the view, his head went
down and he caught a different sight; a sight of the red tiled roofs of his
beloved city. “Will the help come in time?” the question that was on the mind
of every citizen of Vienna.
Upon reaching the street and heading back to the bakery, he
noticed the scattered bricks on the ground and people repairing the crumbling
walls of the houses. The five or six-story buildings were packed tightly to
each other as the only thing holding them together were the connecting walls.
It seemed as if one wall went down, the rest would fall as domino.
“How
are you?” Bartholomew asked one of his clients, who was sweeping the debris
from the sidewalk.
“Trying to keep the spirit up,” the man smiled and
continued cleaning. This was the usual routine for the past month; the Viennese
people repairing the houses to keep their hope up.
As soon as he
arrived at the bakery, the assistant selling the small portions of bread asked,
“Master, did you hear the news?” Not waiting for an answer he continued, “The
Turks are getting closer to the walls.”
“They
are already close to the walls,” answered absent-minded baker.
“No,
they’re digging tunnels under the city walls to get inside the walls and attack
the city.” Now, the assistant had the baker’s full attention.
“No,
that’s impossible,” Bartholomew insisted even though he knew that it was very
possible. Was this it? Was it the end of
the city? The baker was lost in his thought. The assistant realizing it
left him alone.
As
the word had spread out that the enemy was digging the tunnels to reach the
city inside the walls, the bakers were encouraged to keep their eyes and ears
wide opened for any suspicious activities since they were the only people
working during the night except the guards. Most of the bakery stores were on
the first floor and the bakery itself in the basement. The basement was the
level at which the enemy would dig a tunnel sending some sound. That’s why it
was very important to stay quiet at the bakery and keep the ears on alert.
During
the night Bartholomew put his right ear to the wall trying to hear any noise.
Not hearing anything, he put his left ear to the wall hoping that this one
would work better. Still nothing. “Where is the help?” he almost yelled
forgetting to keep quiet. The lack of sleep and irritation were starting to
effect his tone of voice.
The
people knew that before the Turks invaded Vienna, Leopold I, the ruler of
Austria signed an agreement with the Polish King to help each other in case of a
war. But what Bartholomew and the rest of the people didn’t know was that as
soon as Jan Sobieski, the Polish King, heard of the Turkish invasion he rushed
his army to Vienna. The help was on the way.
On
September 6th, 1683, Jan Sobieski reached the outskirts of Vienna. A
light was shut into the sky to give a sign and hope to the Viennese people.
“Hold on. Give me and my army a few days to regroup.” That’s the message the
Polish King tried to send to the people.
On September 11th, 1683, King Sobieski
directed his army against the Turks. The rumbling of horse’s hoofs and clashing
of the swords filled the air. The ferocious fight continued until the next day.
The Turkish army, which was feared by many, for the first time was losing its
battle and started retreating.
The Viennese people inside the walls were awaiting the
end of the battle with eagerness and anxiety; eagerness for the battle to be
over and anxiety of not knowing the result. Bartholomew not able to stay put rushed
to the tower to see the progress of the battle. To his surprise the Turkish
army was running away from the walls of the city and in the direction where
they came from. The dust rising from the horse’s hoofs filled the air and just
in time, he noticed enemy’s flag flapping above the rising dust fog. “What’s
that?” He squinted his eyes as this was supposed to give him a better view of
the emblem on the flag. “That is a crescent moon.” Immediately an idea sprang
into his mind.
He
hurried back to the bakery to prepare for the morning’s celebration. Swiftly,
his hands sifted some flour and rolled dough, which he cut into triangles. His
lips whistled like never before, while he was shaping the triangles into the
crescent moons.
The following morning, the streets of Vienna filled with
people singing praises for King Sobieski, who entered the city with victory.
The people dashed to gather the little food that was left to celebrate this
glorious day. Some stopped at Bartholomew’s bakery and couldn’t contain their
amazement for the bread in the shape of a crescent moon, later known better as
croissant.
After all celebrations were done, the people turned their
attentions to renovations. It was the next step in getting the city back to its
glory. The rumbling of the broken bricks and debris echoed throughout the
city as they were gathered into buckets. The squeaking of the window glass
being cleaned and sweeping of the streets slowly brought the people back to
their normal lives. Shortly, with clean streets filled with aromas of
different food, it reminded the people of the celebratory croissant. It was gaining
its popularity with each day, but not without a dilemma. Some Viennese people
whispered that the crescent-shaped roll was not an invention of Bartholomew as
they already saw it at some tables during the Easter time. Maybe that’s true,
but the fact was that it became popular after the battle and Bartholomew made
it part of the victorious celebration.
But this is not the end of our story. Some of you may
already know that today’s croissant is associated with France. Why? Well, seventy-two
years later, somebody special was born in Vienna. Her name was Marie
Antoinette, who later became the Queen of France. As a child, she loved the
sweeter glazed version of croissant. So when she became betrothed to Louis XVI,
the King of France, she couldn’t imagine leaving Vienna without croissant.
Could you? So she took a Viennese cook to make croissants in France. Croissant
became so popular in France that today people think it was invented in France
instead of Vienna.
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