Sunday, March 4, 2012

The History of French Toast

By Matt Howard


French Toast has been a favourite breakfast meal in America and abroad for several years. There's a surprisingly big selection of methods to make this tasty morning meal. However some people haven't thought of how this particular morning meal got into existence. To be able to truly enjoy this delightful food, we have to explore the fabled history of French toast.

French toast is known by several names like Poor Knights, American toast, Spanish toast, Easter toast and eggy bread. In Cajun circles, French toast is referred to as ameritte or pain perdu. Around England it's known as Poor Knights. It is because, since only the rich were offered dessert, the lesser class knights will feed on their Poor Knights bread, what exactly is a lot like today's French toast, along with jam. In China, it is called by two names; Western toast or French toast, plus it's deep-fried and served with syrup and butter.

French toast tasty recipes were located in recipe books way back to the Middle Ages, making several speculate that the meal was made sometime before that. Recipe books were held by the wealthy only and the poor were not likely to have learned from them. On the other hand, the working group would pass over the recipe form generation to generation, which makes it tough to determine the precise period of origin.

White bread, which the first French toast recipes called for, was the finest bread on offer at the period. In Roman times, French toast had been known as la Romaine, or Roman bread, and was served along with honey. It possibly gained the name "French toast" coming from the French pain perdu, which usually means stale or lost bread. Several believe that French toast is the precursor to bread pudding.

Even though exact origins of it are uncertain, a few think it came into being in medieval times once cooks would be compelled to utilize every ingredient at their disposal simply because they were very poor to dispose of anything away. For that reason, old bread will be moistened, very likely with eggs or milk, and after that fried in order to be made palatable.

The first mention of French toast in the United States is in 1871. Tale possesses it that this had been often known as German toast before world war two, but the name was changed due to anti-German sentiment. Another well-known story is the fact that it acquired its name in 1742 coming from Joseph French, an Albany, NY restauranteur who called his type of the recipe after himself.

A thing is for sure, today French toast is a favorite American morning meal tradition. It's offered sliced up in sticks in fast food eating places, in big thick fluffy portions in diners, as well as in the homes of most Americans. A lot of households have no less than one member who boasts the title of "greatest French toast maker" with recipes and secret ingredients that they hold dear. Even so you cut it, French toast is here to remain.




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