April 25th was La Fete Du Croissant in Quebec, otherwise known as a pretty delicious day for anybody who goes weak at the knees for a freshly baked buttery croissant. All participating bakeries (over 50 across Quebec this year) have to make their croissants entirely from scratch to partake and the croissants are sold for $1 each for the day.

A fresh batch of buttery croissants

I made my way to Montreal for the joyous occasion -- I did grow up in France so the idea of a day dedicated to the art of croissant-making seemed too good to pass up! -- and sampled a variety of croissants from some of the participating stores. Most interesting was tasting and identifying the subtle, and not so subtle, differences in taste, texture and shape from the different bakeries. Although each bakery uses the same basic ingredients, each had their unique way of selecting those ingredients as well as their own way of shaping and baking the croissants giving the end-result more or less flakiness, chew and sweetness. My favourite of the day? The croissants from Les Co'Pains D'Abord -- an incredibly flaky baked treat with a slight sweetness and an unusual shape. The croissants are folded in a unique way where both ends of the dough are joined before being baked giving them their own signature style.

Croissants from Montreal's Les Co'Pains D'Abord

The day was a great success with some of the bakeries selling hundreds of croissants within an hour of opening and hungry crowds lining up to get their croissant fix. The plan is to extend Croissant Day to other provinces next year. We can hardly wait! Photography by Jennifer Bartoli