Now what I consider French Toast will be very different to what you might consider French Toast to be.
I can tell you here and now ... I DID NOT LIKE THE SINGAPORE VERSON!!
Not one little bit.
Ate the edges and left all the rest.
YUKKY.
My first thought was "this is not French Toast".......
But this is a reminder to me that "things are not wrong here, just different".
So this morning I did a bit of a google to see what variations are around ..... and was surprised at how many. Most of the following was from Wikipedia:
French toast is a breakfast food served in North America and Europe, and a Christmas time dessert in Portugal and Brazil. Typical French toast is made with bread and eggs. Milk or sugar is commonly added. According to what is popular in local cuisine, many of the spices that are added to bread or egg dishes are included in cooking. This versatile dish is often topped with sugar, butter, fruit, syrup, or other items.
Slices of bread are dipped in a beaten egg and sugar mixture. The slices of egg-coated bread are then placed on a frying pan or griddle prepared with a coat of butter or oil, and cooked until both sides are browned and the egg has cooked through.
The cooked slices can be served with toppings including jam, butter, peanut butter, honey,Marmite, vegemite, maple syrup, fruit syrup, molasses, apple sauce, beans, beef, lard, whipped cream, fruit, tomato ketchup (when sugar is not used), chocolate, sugar, yogurt, powdered sugar, marmalade, bacon, duck fat (in Northern Ireland), treacle, cheese (often with ham), ice cream, gravy or various nuts such as pecans. Heating the oil or butter with chopped garlic, chillies or onions is effective to add flavor
Stuffed French toast is two pieces of French toast that are stuffed with bananas, strawberries, or other fruit. It is usually topped with butter, maple syrup, and powdered sugar.
In the United Kingdom it is often savory and known as "eggy bread" or "Gypsy toast" or "bread dipped in egg" in South East Wales. It is sometimes known as "Poor Knights of Windsor". Another name occasionally used is "French fried bread" but this should not be confused with "fried bread", which is white bread fried in butter or fat left over from frying bacon or sausages. One variation has marmite spread on the bread before dipping.
In Scotland it is also served with sliced sausages, served like a sandwich.
In Italy a variation is served as mozzarella in carrozza ("mozzarella in carriage"). In this version a slice of fresh mozzarella is sandwiched between two slices of bread and the whole dipped in egg and fried. It can be seasoned with salt, but is not sweet like French toast and is not eaten for breakfast. It is often topped with a tomato sauce, which is then sometimes garnished with some chopped parsley and grated cheese to make three broad stripes of green, white and red, the colors of the Italian flag.
In Portugal, it is called fatias douradas or rabanadas and is typically made during Christmas, out of slices of bread leftovers (when it's too hard to be eaten normally) soaked in milk or water to soften it, dipped in beaten eggs, fried in the least amount of vegetable oil possible (to prevent it from soaking up and becoming too greasy) and then sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, soaked in a syrup made with water, sugar, cinnamon sticks and lemon skin or in Port or Madeira wine. It is usually eaten cold as a dessert or a snack.
In Spain, it is called torrijas and is typically made during Lent, out of thick slices of bread soaked in milk or wine, dipped in egg, fried and then drenched in spiced honey or cinnamon.
In Yugoslavian nations it is made with fairly thick pieces of bread. It is usually enjoyed with sour cream, cheese, jam or just by itself.
In Canada, the most popular topping is Maple Syrup.
In New York, within the Jewish-American communities, it is common to make it with challah. The richness of the sweet egg bread complements the richness of the French toast preparation. In many Jewish-American households it is traditional to use the leftover challah from Friday night Sabbath dinner to make French toast on Sunday morning. The slightly stale challah absorbs the egg or milk-and-egg mixture more readily and cooks into a custard-like center for the slices of French toast.
In the Western and Southwestern US, some restaurants prepare it with Sourdough bread.
In Australia and New Zealand, French toast is a breakfast or brunch dish, made by pan-frying individual sliced bread or baguette slices dipped in the egg mixture identical to American preparations. It is sometimes served with banana and fried bacon, and topped with maple syrup. Another popular variation in New Zealand uses a mixture of eggs yolks, milk and grated cheese to make a savory breakfast food.
In Brazil it is "rabanadas" and follows the Portuguese recipe. It is quite often used to celebrate a birth, as well as at Christmas and New Year celebrations.
In Germany, the Arme Ritter (poor knights) are made from bread leftovers as a fast and simple meal. There are several local alternatives in serving: with a mix of sugar and cinnamon, filled with plum-jam or with vanilla sauce. Sometimes it is made with wine instead of milk, and therefore called Betrunkene Jungfrau, drunken virgin.
In the Netherlands, it is "Wentelteefjes" and is made from bread leftovers with milk and a mix of sugar and cinnamon, baked in butter.
In Hungary, it is "Bundáskenyér" (fluffy bread). It is dipped in a mixture of milk, beaten eggs, salt and pepper before frying, and usually served with onions and tomatoes, mayonnaise, or ketchup. People usually eat it for breakfast on weekends or for dinner.
In Bulgaria, it is called "Пържени филийки" (literally, fried slices). It is considered breakfast food, and very popular with children. This used to be grandma's treat for the kids on weekends. It is prepared by dipping the staled bread slices (white bread) in thin batter of milk or yogurt, eggs, and some flour, and frying in sunflower oil to golden on both sides. Goes well with any preserves, honey, dusted with powder sugar, or with white Bulgarian cheese.
In Sri Lanka it is known as "Bombay Toast".
In India, the version is salted rather than sweet. The egg is beaten with milk, salt, green chili and chopped onion. Bread is dunked into this mixture and is deep fried in butter or cooking oil. It is served with ketchup.
In Hong Kong, French toast, called 西多士 (Cantonese IPA: [sɐ́i tɔ́ sǐ]; Jyutping: sai1 do1 si2; Mandarin Pinyin: xīduōshì; "western toast", but actually an abbreviation of "法蘭西多士", "French toast"), is available all day round but is particularly popular for breakfast and afternoon tea in Hong Kong-style western restaurants and cha chaan tengs. It is made by deep frying stacked sliced bread dipped in beaten egg or soy, and served with a slab of butter and topped with golden syrup, or sometimes honey. Two slices are normally used and a sweet filling is usually added, either peanut butter, kaya, or more rarely jam. In other non-Cantonese speaking parts of Greater China, it is usually called 吐司 (Pinyin: tǔsī; literally "toast").
In Singapore, the version is similar to the Hong Kong style ....
It is made with two slices of 'warmed' sliced bread (not toasted) dipped in beaten egg, and served with a slab of butter and topped with golden syrup, or sometimes honey. Two slices are normally used and a sweet filling is usually added, either peanut butter or Kaya (coconut jam)
Mine came with loads of Peanut Butter .... now I like peanut butter, but not between two slices of warmed bread dipped in egg, dripping with honey and butter.
some recipes for variations of French Toast can be found here:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipes/breakfast-and-brunch/french-toast/Main.aspx
ENJOY!!
Not Wrong - Just Different!!
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