French toast
French toast is bread soaked in beaten eggs, often with milk, then fried. It is commonly served sweet with toppings or savory with seasonings.
Egg batter: A mixture of eggs and liquid used to coat or bind foods before cooking. Beaten eggs, often thinned with milk, form the coating absorbed by the bread.
Pain perdu: A French preparation of bread soaked in an egg-and-milk mixture and cooked, traditionally using stale bread. The name means “lost bread” and reflects the dish’s use of bread past its prime.
Breakfast: The first meal of the day, eaten after the overnight fast. French toast is widely served as a sweet or savory breakfast dish.
Bread pudding: A baked dish made from bread pieces combined with a sweet or savory custard. It uses bread and custard too, but is baked as a pudding rather than fried by the slice.
Maillard reaction: A set of chemical reactions between amino acids and sugars that creates browned color and complex flavors during heating. It helps brown the bread’s surface as the soaked slices fry.
Roman cuisine: The foods, ingredients, and cooking practices of ancient Rome and its territories. A Roman cookbook includes a bread-and-egg preparation often cited as an early relative.
Brioche: A rich, tender bread enriched with butter and eggs. Its soft crumb and richness make it a popular choice for indulgent French toast.
Eggy bread: A British name for bread dipped in beaten egg and fried, often served savory. It overlaps with French toast but is commonly distinguished by its simpler, savory presentation.
Stale bread: Bread that has lost freshness and become dry or firm through moisture redistribution and starch changes. Drier slices absorb the egg mixture without collapsing as readily as fresh bread.
Apicius: The conventional name associated with De re coquinaria, a collection of ancient Roman recipes. A recipe in the collection describes bread soaked in milk and eggs, then fried.