The History of French Toast | The Breakfast Shoppe (2024)

FAQs

The History of French Toast | The Breakfast Shoppe? ›

So, if the French did not invent this tasty little treat, who did? According to legend, it was a man named Joseph French. He created the dish in 1724, and advertised it as “French Toast” because he was grammatically inept and forgot the apostrophe.

The first known recorded recipe for French toast comes from Rome around 300 A.D. The Roman author Apicius included it in his cookbook titled "Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome". For centuries, the French themselves called this dish "Roman Bread". Today, French toast has spread to much of the world.

The usual French name is pain perdu (French: [pɛ̃ pɛʁdy] 'lost bread', reflecting its use of stale or otherwise "lost" bread. It may also be called pain doré 'golden bread' in Canada. There are fifteenth-century English recipes for pain perdu.

The British call french toast “eggy bread," “gypsy bread" or “french-fried bread." And sometimes they serve it with ketchup.

Since French toast is primarily made of bread, this breakfast item is also a good source of carbohydrates. Like calories, carbs have developed a bad reputation among dieters and weight watchers but remain necessary to provide energy for the body. Aside from boosting your strength, carbs also contain plenty of fiber.

French toast got its current name through a grammatical error. Albany, New York, innkeeper Joseph French introduced the dish to America in 1724. He intended to name his creation “French's Toast” but inadvertently left out the apostrophe and S. The phrase “French toast” first appeared in print in 1871.

Maillard Reaction occurs when cooking french toast. The maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned foods their desirable flavor. The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring the addition of heat.

The phrase “French Toast” first appeared in print in the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink in 1871. But it is known by a variety of names including German toast, eggy bread, French-fried bread, gypsy toast, Poor Knights of Windsor, Spanish toast, nun's toast, and pain perdu which means “lost bread” in French.

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In a bowl, mix the egg, cream and salt with a fork. Dip in the slices of bread until the mixture is soaked in. In a big pan, heat the butter. Add the slices of bread and fry them until they get golden brown.

The origin of “Pain Perdu”

Very popular in France, French Toast, known as “Pain perdu”, is typically thought of a French invention.

Which is healthier French toast or pancakes? ›

Ready to find a winner? It's time for a food face-off. A typical stack of pancakes has almost 500 fewer calories than a plate of French toast—as well as 20 fewer grams of sugar. Pancakes keep up their lead with 78% less saturated fat than their French toast counterparts.

A basic rule of thumb is about 1/4 cup of milk and one egg per two-slice serving—and if you want to avoid that "scrambled" taste, use only the yolks of some or all of the eggs. (Sulfur compounds in the whites are what give eggs their unique "egg" taste.)

A 6-ounce waffle at Bob Evans “costs” 340 calories, while Denny's Belgian waffle platter will run you more than 600 calories — before adding syrup, butter or fruit. French toast, though, is typically the least healthy choice. Denny's French toast platter has more than 1,200 calories.

The word toast comes from the Latin torrere 'to burn'. One of the first references to toast in print is in a recipe for Oyle Soppys (flavoured onions stewed in a gallon of stale beer and a pint of oil) from 1430. Toasting was likely first used to increase the edibility of bread that had become slightly stale.

French toast. noun. : bread dipped in a mixture of eggs and milk and fried at low heat.

Use stale bread or toast the bread until it's golden-brown. It needs to be sturdy to hold up to the egg mixture. If the bread is fresh from the bag or you toast it too lightly, the finished dish will be soggy. Soak the toasted or untoasted bread for about 10 seconds per side to achieve the optimal texture.

French Toast Origin and History

Experts agree that French toast dates back to ancient Rome. A similar recipe can be found in the book of Apicius from the 5th century BC. The Romans dipped slices of bread in milk (and sometimes eggs) before frying them, and called it “Pan Dulcis.”