What is the history of French toast?

Origin

One of the earliest versions of the French toast can be traced back to 5th Century A.D. Roman Empire. The first-known mention of a French toast-like dish was mentioned in “Apicius”, a 1st century AD collection of Roman recopies. The Romans dipped bread pieces in a milk-based mixture, before frying it in oil and butter.

Similar toasts were prepared in Europe and known by different names during the medieval period. For instance, suppe dorate in England, arme ritter in Germany and fattiga riddance in Sweden. Most of these toasts used a batter comprising milk and eggs, to make stale loaves of bread more palatable. In France, a toast made with bread, milk and eggs, known as tostees dorees, was mentioned in “Le Viandier de Taillevent”, a French recipe collection originally written around the year 1300.

In the 15th Century, a toast known as pain perdu rose n popularity in France. Pain perdu is seen as the modern variant of French toast prepared today. In fact, pain perdu is how French toast is referred to in France. By the 16th and 17th centuries, pain perdu began to be prepared in Britain and a few other European cities. As the dish spread to regions outside France, it came to be popularly called French toast. According to reports, 1660 is the year the word “French toast” first made an appearance in the Oxford dictionary. Within the next few years, the toast’s recipe spread across the British colonies.

Evolution

As the toast began to be prepared in several regions across the globe, they also came to be known by different names such as Spanish toast, German toast, nun’s toast, eggy bread, torriga and poor knights of Windsor, among others.

As the French toast became a global hit, most places adapted the pain perdu recipe according to their taste preferences. For instance, Bombay toast has a sweet and savoury variants, where the sweet is prepared using bread slices, eggs, milk and sugar or honey and the savoury consists of bread, milk, eggs, ginger, garlic, onion, salt and coriander leaves.

Unlike the Europeans toasts that are served with cream and chopped fruits, in the U.S., the toast is topped with powdered sugar, maple syrup and butter.

In Scotland, the toasts are eaten as a sandwich with a filling made of sausages. In Italy, they are served with cheese and ketchup. In Hong Kong, the batter includes peanut butter or fruit jam along with eggs and milk. Australians eat the toasts with fried bacon.

Wide varieties

There are several unique varieties such as waffle, peanut butter and jelly-stuffed, smores, cereal-coated, red velvet, cheesecake, cinnamon roll, hot chocolate, corn flakes, basil and cherry tomato, muffin, rosemary and cheese casserole French toast prepared today.

French toast has become such a popular breakfast within the U.S. that each year on November 28 is celebrated as National French Toast Day.

 

Picture Credit : Google