French toast

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  French toast is bread soaked in beaten eggs, often with milk or cream, and then fried in a pan. It is also known as eggy bread and as poor knights of Windsor. A dish with that many aliases invites suspicion. Is it really French? Who first thought of frying soaked bread, and did the idea ever require eggs? And how does one plain method end up on tables in so many countries, wearing so many different flavours?

  22814

• 2. Lost Bread

  ›

  In France the dish is called pain perdu, which means lost bread. The name describes its job, which is rescuing stale loaves that would otherwise be thrown away. Canadians sometimes call it pain doré, or golden bread. The Dutch go further and give it two names that pull in opposite directions. Verloren brood means lost bread, while gewonnen brood means reclaimed bread.

  Day-old bread is the usual choice, and for good reasons. It is cheap, and it soaks up more of the egg mixture without collapsing. Cooks whisk eggs, often with milk or cream, and may stir in sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla. The slices then brown in butter or olive oil until cooked through.

  Not every cook insists on eggs, though. Some dip the bread in wine, rosewater or orange juice instead, either before the pan or after it.

  91314816

• 3. Early Recipes

  ›

  The oldest candidate comes from Apicius, a Roman cookbook of the 1st century CE. Under the heading Aliter Dulcia, meaning another sweet dish, it describes bread chunks soaked in milk and finished with honey. Some authors say this is not very different from modern French toast. Others answer that it has no egg, so it cannot count. The Latin text really does leave egg out, although some translations add it as an editor's guess. A second recipe with the same heading does use eggs, but it has no bread and produces a sort of custard.

  Around 1300 the French chef Guillaume Taillevent wrote Le Viandier. It contains a recipe for tostées dorées that calls for eggs and sugar. A German recipe from the 14th century appears under the name Arme Ritter.

  The 15th century brings English recipes for pain perdu, plus one from the culinary expert Martino da Como. In Spain, Francisco Martínez Motiño published an early recipe in 1611. Then in the 1670s Hannah Woolley put a version in her cookbook The Queen-Like Closet, and she never called it French.

  1517182028

• 4. Poor Knights

  ›

  German cooks have used the name Arme Ritter, meaning poor knights, since at least the 14th century. The Brothers Grimm recorded it in their Deutsches Wörterbuch. Austrians and Bavarians say Pofesen instead. Its shape reminded people of the shields carried by medieval knights from the city of Pavia.

  In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the dish goes by eggy bread, and occasionally gypsy toast, a name dating to the 14th and 15th centuries. Older English names include pamperdy and poor knight's pudding. English and the Nordic languages share the poor knights label.

  Denmark and Norway both say arme riddere. Danish cooks use cinnamon sugar, and Norwegians favour cinnamon and cardamom. Norway once treated it purely as dessert, but now it turns up at brunch and breakfast.

  In Finland, köyhät ritarit usually means wheat bread, or sometimes a dried bun called pulla, dipped in milk with an egg and fried. It is eaten warm with jam and whipped cream. Some lunch restaurants serve a bun version as rich knights, named for a crown of whipped cream that the poor knights never get.

  2310114752

• 5. Savoury Plates

  ›

  In Slovakia the dish is chlieb vo vajci, which means bread in egg. It is often salted and eaten at breakfast with a cup of tea. Poland calls it chleb w jajku, with the same meaning. In Hungary it is bundáskenyér, or furry bread, and it comes with garlic, cheese, sausage or ham.

  Romania has frigănele, which is almost always savoury and made without milk. Across the Southern Slavic countries, names such as prženice and pohane šnite cover versions that may be sweet or savoury. Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia all belong to that group. They pair the slices with ajvar, jam, cheese, prosciutto or sausage.

  Greeks make Avgofetes by dipping bread in the same mixture used for scrambled eggs. Feta and honey are typical partners. In Britain, the savoury version of eggy bread often arrives with bacon.

  The packets sold in supermarkets as French toast tell a different story. They typically contain no egg at all and resemble Melba toast.

  125657364

• 6. Asian Streets

  ›

  On the streets of Mumbai, hawkers and vendors sell Bombay toast. The Indian version is usually unsweetened and made without milk in the batter. After frying, it may carry salt, fried onions, green chilis or cilantro leaves. Tomato ketchup, often chili-spiced, is the common companion.

  Hong Kong builds a sandwich. Two slices of bread are filled with peanut butter or jam, dipped in egg and fried. Butter goes on top, along with condensed milk, golden syrup or honey. It is a regular order in a cha chaan teng, the city's diner-style teahouse. Other fillings include meat floss, kaya jam, ham or beef satay.

  Singapore's hawker centres list French toast on the menu, often inside a breakfast set with soft-boiled eggs or kaya, a coconut jam.

  Further west, Armenia has beeshee, a thin crisp breakfast food topped with sugar, syrup or honey. In Georgia, kikliko is a savoury brunch favourite, and cheese may be folded in.

  3738414234

• 7. Festive Tables

  ›

  Spaniards prepare torrijas during Lent and Holy Week. Stale bread is soaked in milk or wine with honey and spices, then dipped in beaten egg and fried in olive oil. That process breaks down the bread's fibres, leaving a crisp outside and a smooth inside. A last sprinkle of cinnamon finishes it.

  The composer, poet and playwright Juan del Encina, who lived from 1468 to 1533, gave torrijas their first written mention. They appear in his Cancionero, published in 1496.

  Across the border in Portugal, and in Brazil, the equivalent is rabanadas, a traditional Christmas dessert. Many recipes call for red wine or Port.

  The Dutch wentelteefjes stay closer to home. They are a sweet breakfast that can double as an afternoon treat or evening dessert, with cinnamon sugar on top. Dutch memories often attach to a grandmother who makes them for her grandchildren on special occasions.

  5051585913

• 8. Dining Car Fame

  ›

  American railroads turned French toast into a menu star. In the early and mid-20th century it was a popular dish in railroad dining cars. The Santa Fe line was especially known for its version. Some railroads even handed out recipes for it and other dining car dishes, using them as publicity.

  American tables still follow the habit of butter, powdered sugar and maple syrup. Jam, whipped cream and fruit are other toppings. Some cooks choose challah bread.

  In New Orleans Louisiana Creole cooking, the dish keeps its French name, pain perdu, and is most often a breakfast. The recipe specifies New Orleans-style French bread. Cane syrup, strongly flavoured honey or fruit syrups go on top, and a dusting of powdered sugar is traditional. The egg-based custard it is dipped in may include spirits.

  6263646566