the world of french toast

What is French Toast, Brief History, National French Toast Day, Videos

what is french toast?

French toast is a dish of sliced bread soaked in beaten eggs and often milk or cream, then pan fried. Alternative names and variants include eggy bread, Bombay toast, gypsy toast, and poor knights (of Windsor).

When French toast is served as a sweet dish, sugar, vanilla, or cinnamon are also commonly added before pan-frying, and then it may be topped with sugar (often powdered sugar), butter, fruit, or syrup. When it is a savory dish, it is generally fried with a pinch of salt or pepper, and it can then be served with a sauce such as ketchup or mayonnaise.

a brief history of french toast

The origins of french toast are not entirely clear, but long before this sweet snack was called “french toast," similar recipes were being whipped up all around the world. One of the earliest versions of french toast has been traced back to the Roman Empire.

The name “french toast" was first used in 17th-century England. The recipe — and name — were brought to America by early settlers.

In France, the dish is called “pain perdu," meaning “lost bread." Why lost bread? Originally, people made French toast from stale bread in order to make use of bread that would otherwise have been thrown away.

roman origins

The first "French" toast recipe appeared in a Roman cookbook titled "Apicius". This Roman cookbook might be the oldest in the world.

Also known as "De Re Coquinaria," this cookbook is attributed to a foodie named Apicius. However, there were several individuals of his name who existed throughout the Empire's long span, so the author's exact identity is uncertain.

The earliest copy of his cookbook currently known to exist is from the fifth century, although its original copy is suspected to hail from the first century. Since then, the book has undergone a myriad of notating, translating, and updating.

In Apicius' text, readers were instructed to slice bread, take off the crust, soak the bread in eggy milk, fry it in oil, and smother it in honey. There are references to toasted pieces of bread, but not explicitly in that recipe. Instead, toast is referenced in dishes like milk toast and roast suckling pig with honey. Naturally, the word "French" doesn't appear in the original text, since its etymology traces back to the 13th century, per Etymonline. Still, while this ancient Roman recipe isn't necessarily toast and obviously isn't French, it also quite clearly has the spirit of what we today call French toast: Fried bread that's eggy, milky, and sugary. When in Rome ... people ate French toast! Sort of.

joseph french's toast

In the 17th century, English settlers brought the recipe to the U.S. from England, but it was an innkeeper in Albany, New York named Joseph French who actually created the dish in 1724. He called it “French’s Toast”. Because of his poor grammar and use of punctuation, he inadvertently left off the apostrophe…and the name “French Toast” stuck.

french toast around the globe

Around the world French toast has many different names and people enjoy it in many different ways. The British call French toast eggy bread, gypsy bread or french-fried bread and sometimes serve it with ketchup.

In Italy, French toast is made by taking two slices of bread and embedding mozzarella cheese between them, then dipping the sandwich in whipped egg and frying in typical French toast fashion. This version of French toast is then often topped with tomato sauce and cheese.

In other countries French toast is known by names like: Spanish toast, German toast, nun's toast, torriga, poor knights of Windsor, Bombay toast and many others.

In France the dish is known as "pain perdu" or "lost bread" because stale bread is used to make it.

In the collective imagination it is believed that French toast came from a desire to not waste food, added to the religious connotation that throwing away bread was socially unacceptable.

a sweet day to celebrate

Each year on November 28th, people across the United States enjoy National French Toast Day. Also known as eggy bread or omelet bread, it makes a great breakfast for guests or part of a brunch.

The flavor of French toast can be brightened with a squeeze of fresh orange or stuffed with sauteed apples and cinnamon. Make French toast kid-friendly by cutting it into sticks. Then dip the sticks into syrup. Substitute sugary syrup with a fruit puree and fresh fruit pieces. Nuts and seeds add crunch to this delicious breakfast fare, and don't forget the whipped cream! Just a dollop goes a long way.

videos on french toast

Pain Perdu - Historical French Toast - 18th Century Cooking

Did you know that this delectable dish we call French Toast has been around for over a thousand years? And it wasn't always breakfast fare, in fact, it likely started out as a dessert. Learn about Pain Perdu, what we call "French Toast".

Comfort Food Origins: French Toast

Comfort food: salty, sweet, crunchy, fluffy, rich; its absolutely delicious! Comfort is no stranger to our channel, but in this new series we’re digging in a little deeper. Come along with us today as we find out where French Toast came from!

Tracing the First French Toast Back to Ancient Rome | Ancient Recipes with Sohla

Ancient Recipes with Sohla takes the food you know and love and traces it back to its origins. In each episode, Sohla El-Waylly details the surprising history of some of our favorite dishes as she attempts to recreate the original version using historical cooking techniques and ingredients. Along the way, Sohla highlights the differences between the ancient recipe and how we would prepare the modern version today.

in conclusion

This dish is a sweet relative to bread pudding and it has been used as a dessert and breakfast food for at least 1500 years. The Romans often referred to it as “aliter dulcia” (“another sweet dish”) in the 4th century, and the French actually call it “pain perdu” or lost bread, in which stale bread is used in such a way that is similar to how we cook it here in the Americas. Roman recipes called for stale white bread so that it could soak up the maximum amounts of an egg without breaking up.

Once in America, French toast was often used and popularized in early 20th-century rail travel and has been used in New Orleans’ kitchens for the last century as a breakfast item made with egg batter, certain spirits, and topped with fruit syrups and powdered sugar. Both the French & Cajun continue to refer to French toast as “pain perdu.”

In certain cultures, French toast may be made with or without milk, regional berries, maple syrup, jams, yogurt, or other sweet toppings. Some recipes also call for vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, or other spices, while other versions are just simply used with honey. A salty and savory version of French toast can be topped with bacon, cheese, gravy, or ketchup.

People often use a variety of different types of breads to make French toast. In the western and southwestern United States, many cooks prefer sourdough bread. Within some Jewish-American communities, people will use leftover challah bread from the Sabbath dinner for a delicious French toast on Sunday mornings.

So, whether you call it eggy bread, gypsy bread, or French toast, this sweet dish is found in almost every western culture on Earth.

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