Where’s the French in French toast?

By Darryl Wilkinson

By Darryl Wilkinson

If you run out of “thinks” to “thing” about…

If you’re worried about Elian’s raid, the breakup of Microsoft, the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam War, the stolen laptop from the State Department, the gay lawsuit against the Boy Scouts, DNA testing, the drug war in Colombia, the seven youth wounded at the zoo in Rock Creek Park near our nation’s capitol, or the nuclear test ban debate, lighten up.

Just ask yourself: Is French toast really French?

A guy at my house can shake awake on a Saturday or Sunday morning to slowly fry some of Rain’s 2B Bacon to perfection, scramble the eggs with a hot side of hash browns and put it on the plate just when the toast pops up hot — only to hear some sleepy eyed, barefoot waif ask if there’s any French toast.

Liz’s remodeled kitchen is just about a year old. And yet, one of the biggest meals we’ve hosted climaxed a graduation sleepover when a room full of girls relished, you guessed it, French toast.

As if you should care, French toast actually began thousands of years ago with the invention of leavened bread. Some say the first raised bread was made when an alcoholic beverage or fermented honey was accidentally added to flatbread dough. Others credit the Egyptians with the invention when they discovered that kneading the dough with their feet made the dough rise due to the natural yeast between their toes (toe jam, anyone?).

As unpalatable as it may sound, this softer bread was so valued that Egyptian workers were often paid with bread at the end of the day. Thus, history’s first “breadwinners!”

Next, the Romans imparted the wisdom of using a process called “tostum” where bread would be scorched or burned. The idea of warming bread with direct flames or hot stones spread throughout the Roman Empire, from Africa to Britain. From “tostum” came the modern name, toast.

French toast is actually a way to revive day old bread. As you know, you just dip the dry bread in batter made of eggs and milk, then fry. One of the earliest records of French toast comes from the British court of Henry V when it was referred to as “pain perdu” (lost bread). Given the French name, it is likely that Henry brought it back with him after his victory at Agincourt.

If you wander over to browse your cookbooks, I’ll bet you will find several variations and ways of serving French toast. Most suggest cinnamon. American cookbooks began listings in the late 1800s. Other names for the tasty treat is still Old World, such as “Poor Knights of Windsor” or “Nun’s Toast.”

We still use old bread for French toast at our house. Many recipes, and restaurants known for the specialty, rarely suggest use of leftover, lost bread. The folks that operate the International House of Pancakes say that no other country has embraced French toast like America.

Don’t get me wrong. I like French toast, too, or maybe I take the toast for the maple syrup I normally use. Given a choice, I prefer fresh yeast rolls and loaf breads, you know, the kind with aromas that make you think you’re at grandma’s house as soon as you step inside the door. The gal that still makes these breads from scratch is the kind of gal men toast (and other women roast).

That about covers French toast. But now, I wonder… what about, say, English muffins?