National French Toast Day honors this amazing breakfast delight and encourages everyone to enjoy it for breakfast (or lunch, or even dinner!) either alone or with a few friends or family members.
- 4th Century – Ancient Latin recipes from the 4th century mention soaking bread in milk before frying
- 14th Century – In fourteenth-century Germany the term ‘poor knights’ pudding’ was coined for the sweet treat because it was seen as an affordable meal for those without too much money to spend.
- 1400s – Various recipes for what we call French toast spread the world over.
- 1660 – the term “French Toast” appeared in England in a book called The Accomplisht Cook, according to The Oxford English Dictionary.
- 1724 – French toast was introduced to the United States in 1724 by Joseph French, an innkeeper in Albany, New York. He intended to name his creation “French’s toast” but inadvertently left out the apostrophe and S; little did French know that his little grammatical error would be immortalized!
- 1871 -The “Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink” first includes the phrase “French toast.”
- 2019 – A Seattle restaurant adds breakfast cereal to its French Toast recipe — which also includes milk, eggs, cinnamon, salt, butter, thick bread and whipped cream. (They use both Fruity Pebbles and Frosted Flakes.)
- French toast goes by many names depending on where it’s being served – eggy bread, German toast, poor knights’ pudding, Bombay toast – but it’s always made of the same key ingredients.
- In France, its name is ‘pain perdu’, which literally means ‘lost bread,” because it would often be made with stale or old bread.
- In Italy, there’s a savory version, called ‘mozzarella en Carrozza’, which sees the egg-soaked bread sandwiching slices of mozzarella cheese before it is fried. Its name literally means ‘mozzarella in a carriage’.
- French toast was not invented in France. French toast was around long before France even existed as a country.
- One of the original French names for this dish is le pain á la Romaine or Roman bread.
- French toast was created by medieval European cooks who needed to use every bit of food they could find to feed their families. They knew day-old bread could be revived when moistened and heated. They also added eggs for additional moisture and protein.
- In Scotland, French toast is traditionally served with sausage between two slices of French toast, eaten as a sandwich.
- Medieval recipes for French toast suggest this meal was enjoyed by the wealthy.
- In India, French toast is made without sweeteners, typically being made with egg, milk, salt, green chili, and chopped onions and generally served with ketchup.
- Hong Kong-style French toast is typically prepared by combining multiple slices of bread with peanut butter or fruit jam filling, then dipping in beaten egg and deep frying. It is served with butter and topped with golden syrup or honey.
- The people of New Zealand prefer their French toast served with bananas, bacon, and maple syrup.
- Torrija is a similar recipe traditionally prepared in Spain for Lent and Holy Week. It is usually made by soaking stale bread in milk or wine with honey and spices. It is dipped in beaten egg and fried with olive oil.
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