> -----Original Message----- > From: Julia Thompson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 04:32 PM > To: Killer Bs Discussion > Subject: Re: Commentary on French-bashing > > > "Miller, Jeffrey" wrote: > > > > One thing that I especially love about the whole "freedom foods" > > stuff, is that neither French Fries or French Toast are > particularly > > French... > > 1) For "French fries": > > They're not particularly French. I think McDonald's just > calls them "fries" without any additional adjective. Just > call them "fries", unless they're the superior "steak fries", > and call those *that*, and BTW, let me know where I can get > "steak fries". :)
IIRC from culinary school, they're Belgian in origin > 2) For "French toast": > > Someone on another mailing list told me that prior to one of > the World Wars, it had been called "German toast". I have > done no research to verify; does anyone here know? And I > think my response was, "Why don't we just call it 'European toast'?" The earliest recipe I can find is "pain perdu" or "lost bread" - but that doesn't mean its "French" by any real stretch; its kind of the peanut-butter & jelly of its day, appearing in most every recipe book from the 1300's on. http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BREADS/French-Toast-msg.text >From my library (Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books, T. Austin (ed.) 42): Payn >pur-dew. Take fayre olkys of Eyroun, & trye hem fro the whyte, & draw hem thorw a >straynoure, & take Salt and caste ther-to; than take fayre brede, & kytte it as >trounde rounde; than take fayre Boter that is claryfiyd, or ellys fayre Freysshe >grece, & putte it on a potte, & make it hote; than take & wete wyl thin trounde in >the olkys, & putte hem in the panne, an so frye hem vppe; but ware of cleuyng to the >panne; & whan it is fryid, ley hem on a dysshe, & ley Sugre y-nowe ther-on, & thanne >serue it forht. -j- _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
