Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Story of French Toast

By Matt Howard


French Toast has been a favourite morning meal in the U.S.A as well as in another country for many years. There is a suprisingly large variety of approaches to make this tasty breakfast meal. However lots of people have not thought of how this particular morning treat got into existence. As a way to really enjoy this delicious meal, we have to look into the fabled history of French toast.

French toast is known by several names including 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 called Poor Knights. It's because, since just the wealthy were offered dessert, the lesser class knights will eat their Poor Knights bread, what is similar to the present day French toast, together with jam. At China, it is called by two titles; Western toast or French toast, plus it's deep fried and offered along with butter and syrup.

French toast recipes were located in recipe books dating back to the Middle Ages, making a few speculate that this meal had been created at some point before that. Cookbooks were held by the wealthy only and the poor were not likely to have discovered from them. Rather, the working class would pass over the recipe form generation to generation, which makes it difficult to determine the exact time of origin.

White bread, in which the very first French toast recipes called for, was the best bread sold at the period. In Roman days, French toast had been called la Romaine, or Roman bread, and was offered along with honey. It probably earned the title "French toast" from the French pain perdu, which usually means lost or stale bread. Some believe French toast is the forerunners to bread pudding.

Even though the specific roots of it are not clear, some think it came to exist during medieval times once cooks would be forced to make use of each ingredient at their disposal because they were way too poor to dispose of anything out. As a result, stale bread will be moistened, most likely with milk or eggs, and then fried to be able to be made palatable.

The first reference to French toast in America is in 1871. Tale has it that this had been often called German toast before world war 2, however the name had been changed due to anti-German sentiment. Another well-liked story is the fact that it got its name in 1742 coming from Joseph French, an Albany, NY restauranteur who named his type of the recipe right after himself.

A single thing is for sure, today French toast is a favorite American breakfast tradition. It is offered sliced up in sticks at fast food dining places, in big thick fluffy portions at diners, as well as in the houses of most Americans. Several households have at least one member who boasts the title of "best French toast maker" along with tasty recipes and secret ingredients which they hold dear. However you cut it, French toast is here to stay.




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