Nepedia
Back to Discover
Fluent Reader
📖

French toast

language culture Maturity 5-7 Next article →

French toast is a delicious dish made from sliced bread.

French toast, maple syrup
French toast, maple syrup

People all over the world enjoy it for breakfast or as a sweet treat. Some people call it eggy bread or even poor knights. It is a wonderful way to use bread that is a day old. This older bread is better because it soaks up liquid without falling apart. Making this dish is a way to be thrifty and avoid wasting food.

To make French toast, you follow a few simple steps. First, you beat eggs in a bowl. You might whisk in some milk or cream too. You can add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla for extra flavor. Next, you dip the bread slices into this mixture. Finally, you fry the bread in butter or olive oil until it is brown.

Bundás kenyér
Bundás kenyér

Some people even soak their bread in wine or orange juice.

This food has a very long history. A Roman cookbook from the 1st century CE has a recipe for sweet bread. It used milk and honey but did not have eggs. Later, a French chef named Guillaume Taillevent wrote a recipe with eggs and sugar around the year 1300. In the 1400s, English recipes for this food appeared in books. By 1611, a Spanish recipe was published.

Rabanadas, Christmas cakes (2135990222)
Rabanadas, Christmas cakes (2135990222)

Even in the 1670s, Hannah Woolley included a recipe in her book, The Queen-Like Closet.

There are many different versions of this dish across the globe. In Hong Kong, people make a special version with peanut butter or jam inside.

HKStyleFrenchtoast
HKStyleFrenchtoast

This is a popular item in tea houses called cha chaan teng. In India, street vendors sell Bombay toast with salt and onions. In Hungary, it is called bundáskenyér, which means "furry bread." In Portugal and Brazil, people eat a version called rabanada during Christmas. This is a special dessert made with wine and spices.

French toast connects many different cultures through flavor. In the United States, it is often served with maple syrup and fruit. It was even a popular meal in railroad dining cars during the 1900s. In Greece, people might eat it with salty feta cheese and honey. In the Netherlands, it is a sweet treat that many people associate with grandmothers. Whether it is sweet or savory, this dish brings people together at the table.

381 words

Where will your curiosity go next?

Keep exploring at your chosen reading level.

🖼️ Images & Media (5)
File:French toast, maple syrup.jpg
French toast, maple syrup.jpg
File:HKStyleFrenchtoast.jpg
HKStyleFrenchtoast.jpg
File:Bundás kenyér.jpg
Bundás kenyér.jpg
File:Rabanadas, Christmas cakes (2135990222).jpg
Rabanadas, Christmas cakes (2135990222).jpg
File:Burger King French Toast Sticks and syrup (30497477113).jpg
Burger King French Toast Sticks and syrup...
More to explore

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.