Despite being a French delicacy, croissants are also widely enjoyed by American, especially during the mornings. Many individuals savor the flaky, buttery treat accompanied by butter and jam, preferably complemented with tea or coffee. However, according to etiquette expert William Hanson, it appears that we have been consuming them incorrectly.
One of the key mistakes we’re making is dipping croissants into our hot beverages. In a recent Instagram video posted on his @williamhansonetiquette page, William, who serves as the etiquette coach director of The English Manner and is the author of “The Buffer’s Guide to Etiquette,” elaborated: “When you’re enjoying a croissant, probably at breakfast, statistically, you don’t dip the croissant into the coffee.”
Another common mistake, according to the etiquette expert, is adding butter to croissants. He continued, “Similarly, you don’t actually use butter on a croissant. It is already buttered. It’s an all-butter croissant. You don’t need to add extra butter.”
In the view of this etiquette expert, if you find yourself reaching for a knife to cut open your croissant, it’s time to rethink your approach. Instead, you should simply break off pieces and then apply any condiments. He clarified, “Again, with any bread or bi-product of bread, we’re not going to use a knife to cut it, so you don’t need your knife to cut. Instead you break a little bit of the croissant off and add the jam, marmalade or whatever you want to add, onto that piece of the croissant.”
However, as illustrated by William, the proper method involves adding the topping onto the croissant “on the plate, not in the air.” While the video garnered over 22,000 likes, many viewers were surprised to learn the “correct” way to enjoy a croissant. One individual commented, “Sure, you don’t NEED to add butter, but it’s bloody delicious when you do.”
Another person agreed, stating, “Butter is an essential part of the happiness when consuming these little delights.” A third viewer shared, “I dip mine in hot chocolate… never going to stop doing that!” However, a different perspective was presented by another individual, who mentioned, “Well I’m stunned because I actually do this correctly and I always assumed I was strange.”
We need to talk about MASSIVE CROISSANTS!!