A forthright glimpse at tellurian art: French toast

French Toast. Image courtesy of wikipedia.org

French toast (often known as Eggy Bread in parts of the United Kingdom, pain perdu in French) is a popular breakfast food in North America, Europe, Bermuda and Brazil. French toast is made with bread and eggs, with milk commonly added. According to what is popular in local cuisine, many of the spices that are added to bread or egg dishes are included in cooking. This versatile dish is often topped with sugar, butter, fruit, syrup, or other items.

Preparation

Slices of bread are dipped in a beaten egg mixture. The slices of egg-coated bread are then placed on a frying pan or griddle prepared with a coat of butter or oil, and cooked until both sides are browned and the egg has cooked through.

According to wikipedia.org, the cooked slices can be served with a variety of toppings, including jam, butter, peanut butter, honey, Marmite, vegemite, maple syrup, fruit syrup, molasses, apple sauce, beans, beef, lard, whipped cream, fruit, tomato sauce (when powdered sugar/sugar is not used), chocolate, sugar, yogurt, powdered sugar, marmalade, bacon, duck fat (in Northern Ireland), treacle, cheese (often with ham), gravy or various nuts such as pecans. Heating the oil/butter with chopped garlic, chillies or onions is an effective way to add extra flavour to the dish.

A bunch of slices of French Toast.

Variations

Stuffed French toast is two pieces of French toast that are stuffed with bananas, strawberries, or other fruit. It is usually topped with butter, maple syrup, and powdered sugar.

In the United Kingdom it is often savory and known as either "eggy bread" or "Gypsy toast" or just "bread dipped in egg" in South East Wales. It is also sometimes known by the rather grand title of "Poor Knights of Windsor". Another name occasionally used is "French fried bread" but this should not be confused with "fried bread", which is white bread fried in butter or fat left over from frying bacon or sausages. One variation has marmite spread on the bread before dipping.

In Italy a variation is served known as mozzarella in carrozza (literally "mozzarella in carriage"). In this version a slice of fresh mozzarella is sandwiched between two slices of bread and the whole dipped in egg and fried. It can be seasoned with salt, but is not sweet like French toast nor is it eaten for breakfast. It is often topped with tomato sauce, which is then sometimes garnished with some chopped parsley and grated cheese to make 3 broad stripes of green, white and red, curiosuly enough, the colours of the Italian flag.

In Portugal, it is called fatias douradas or rabanadas and is typically made during Christmas, out of slices of bread leftovers (when it's too hard to be consumed the normal way) soaked in milk to soften it, dipped in beaten egg, deep-fried in olive oil and then dipped in sugar and cinnamon or a syrup made with water, sugar, cinnamon sticks and lemon skin. It is usually eaten cold for dessert.

In Spain, it is called torrijas and is typically made during Lent, out of thick slices of bread soaked in milk or wine, dipped in egg, fried and then drenched in spiced honey.

In New York and in Jewish-American communities, it is a common to make it with Challah. The richness of the sweet egg bread complements the richness of the French toast preparation. In many Jewish-American households it is traditional to use the leftover challah from Friday night Sabbath dinner to make French toast on Sunday morning. The slightly stale challah absorbs the egg or milk-and-egg mixture more readily and cooks into a custard-like central hub for the slices of French toast.

In the Western and Southwestern United States, it is common for some restaurants will prepare it with Sourdough bread.

In Australia and New Zealand, French toast is a breakfast or brunch dish, made by pan-frying individual sliced bread or baguette slices dipped in the egg mixture identical to American preparations. It is sometimes served with banana and fried bacon, and topped with maple syrup. Another popular variation in New Zealand uses a mixture of eggs yolks, milk and grated cheese to make a savory breakfast food.

In Germany, the Arme Ritter (literally poor knights) are made from bread leftovers as fast and simple meal. There are several local alternatives in serving: with a mix of sugar and cinnamon, filled with plum-jam or with vanilla sauce. Sometimes it is made with wine instead of milk, and therefore called Betrunkene Jungfrau, drunken virgin.

In India, the version is salted rather than sweet. The egg is beaten with milk, salt, green chili and chopped onion. Bread is dunked into this mixture and is deep fried in butter or cooking oil. In India locals enjoy seasoning the slices with ketchup.

History and geographic spread

French toast originated as a way to use day-old or stale bread (some breads, French bread especially, become stale after one day). Whereas a stale, crunchy bread might seem unappetizing, soaking the bread in eggs and frying it solved that problem. The precise origins of the recipe are unknown, although a version appears in the 4th century CE Roman cookbook, often attributed to Apicius ("Aliter dulcia: siligineos rasos frangis, et buccellas maiores facies. in lacte infundis, frigis [et] in oleo, mel superfundis et inferes." - "Another sweet: Break grated Sigilines (a kind of wheat bread), and make larger bites. Soak in milk, fry in oil, douse in honey and serve."). This was also known as Pan Dulcis.