Go French
The Guardian reports the age old recipe of the French toast is making a comeback – that it is all the rage with food critics these days who went so far as to call it THE pudding of 2015. Our idea of a French toast varies slightly from the rich yet light dish that the French toast is.
French toast has been described as "buttery, syrupy, sticky middle, crispy edged, hot from the pan sweet stodge" – far from what we are used to. To understand why this dish, which can be made both sweet and savoury is all the buzz these days, let's take a look at how a proper French toast can be made.
This iconic treat may end up being soggy, burned and the cause of a big mess in the kitchen all because of how it is prepared. But making the perfect golden, crispy-edged, truly delicious French toast is not that difficult.
The answer lies in the choice of bread. Firstly, avoid generic white sandwich bread. French toast is supposed to be soft on the inside. Whole, uncut bread works best, as this gives you control over how thick to cut the slices. 1 to ¾ of an inch gives the best results while thin slices will not be as creamy. Tightly crumbed breads work as well and give a sturdier, less creamy French toast.
It is also recommended that you keep the bread out for a day – stale bread soaks up the mixture better. For the custard part, the basic ingredients should be milk and eggs. As eggs dominate the flavour, the better the quality of eggs, the tastier the toast will be. For milk, half and half is recommended, but whole milk should do the trick while it is advised to avoid skimmed milk.
For the preparation, instead of a light dip in the mixture, leaving out comparatively thicker slices of bread gives better results. From here on, the choice is yours. Add sugar to the custard for a fluffy, rich pudding while for savoury, skip the sugar and pair the bread with meat.
There are some things to look out for while preparing the perfect French toast. The egg and milk should be whisked really well, so that no parts of the egg remain unmixed – otherwise this will end up cooked hard and separate. Another issue is to let the excess custard drip off the bread before cooking to avoid a mess of custard accumulating at the bottom of the bread.
While cooking, add a tablespoon of butter to the pan and tilt the pan to completely coat the bottom when it starts foaming. Lay the bread gently in the frying pan. Repeat with additional pieces. For additional toppings maple syrup is a classic, but you can branch out into other kinds of syrups, fruit sauces, or jams.
Some versions are even served with ice-cream. Sautéed vegetables, cheese, or cooked chicken pair well with French toast if you are looking for something more towards the savoury side.
So there you have it, the basics to a basic French toast. Do your own research or experiment with ingredients to find the perfect balance to turn this once boring dish into the great foodie obsession it is turning out to be.
Photo: Collected
Comments