THE PERFECT CROISSANT

When I was young I thought croissants were the triangular pieces of dough inside the cylinder containers found in the cold section of the supermarket next to the yogurt and juice. My mom often used the dough to wrap around little vienna sausages to create a version of pigs in a blanket. While my sister loved this, the way the dough seemed gooey and raw around the sausage still leaves me with haunting memories. For a long time I associated croissants with what I now realize are Pillsbury cresent rolls. It wasn't until many years later that I realized what a real croissant tasted like, and again years after that until I had my first taste of a croissant that was actually good.
I am now happy to say that I am in love with croissants. Let me take that back. I am in love with the idea of the perfect croissant. I have yet to find it, maybe it doesn't even exist... But I like to think its out there somewhere. It's kind of like being in love with the idea of the perfect man.
I have had a couple of pretty good croissants. One was at my school's cafe and the other was at the Ritz. And honestly, they were really pretty good. Unfortunately, I am looking for perfection. I don't know what it will taste like, but I will know it when I find it.

Pain au chocolat - Croissant dough wrapped around a piece of chocolate. I made this dough in my makeshift bakery, located in the back of my mom's Japanese restaurant. Because croissant dough contains yeast, it has to be given time to rise.

This is the end product. This was my first time making croissants on my own. The croissant is a little denser than I had wished.

This is a chocolate croissant from the Ritz. It is very light and flaky, and as you can see, there are many visible layers.