THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

German Toast.

Beat one egg very light, add one-half cup of milk and a pinch of salt.  Dip thin slices of stale bread in this and fry them to a light brown in a hot buttered pan.  This toast makes a nice breakfast dish eaten with butter;  it is also a nice dessert with jelly, jam, or any kind of pudding sauce.

~Diamond Dye Cook Book No. 3.  Montreal: The Wells Richardson Co. Limited, 1900.

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• 1 egg
• ½ c. milk
• dash of salt
• 3 slices of bread (slightly stale)
• 3 to 4 tsp. of butter for frying.

Beat the egg lightly with a small whisk, until light and lemon-coloured.

Add the milk and a dash of salt, and beat well together.

Cut slices of two-day-old bread about ½-inch thick, and soak them in the egg-and-milk mixture.

Heat part of the butter in an 8-inch diameter cast-iron frying pan, over medium-high heat, until it just begins to sizzle.

Add the bread, one slice at a time, and fry over medium-high heat, until lightly browned and crisp on the surface;  turn the bread, and fry the other side.  (Allow about 1 to 2 minutes for each side, and reduce the heat slightly if the fat smokes, or to prevent any scorching.

Add additional butter to the pan and fry the remaining slices in the same manner.

Serve immediately, while piping hot.

Yield:  1 to 3 servings.

German Toast may be served as a breakfast dish with butter, or as a dessert with jam, jelly, or a pudding sauce.

A note from Patricia: I had to do a little bit of research on this one, as this looked like a recipe for French Toast and I was questionning why it would be called German Toast. And I discovered that they are indeed basically the same thing, however the Germans like to top it with a cinnamon/sugar mix, a fruit compote, or a vanilla sauce. In France, this recipe is known as “Pain Perdu” which means ‘lost bread’, and in Germany, this same recipe of sliced bread soaked in a mixture of eggs and milk and pan fried is known as “Arme Ritter” which means ‘poor knights’. Why poor knights? Because apparently in the Middle Ages in Europe, many of the knights became so poor that they couldn’t afford to throw away stale bread, so they had to make use of it, and this was an excellent way. And for the French, ‘lost bread’ meant making good use of bread that would otherwise be “lost” or thrown away. For this recipe, I used oat milk as it was all I had on hand, and I had some nice, thick slices of sourdough bread in my freezer that needed to be used up. I made a quick little compote on the stovetop using blueberries, a touch of water and a touch of maple syrup, and enjoyed one of my German toasts topped with the compote, and ate another smothered in maple syrup. My verdict? Delicious! And soooo much easier than making pancakes. It’s a fabulous weekend treat! Next time I’ll definitely try this with a dessert sauce….. perhaps a nice vanilla sauce. YUM!