French Toast or Croutons? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pain perdu

'Pain perdu' translates into English as lost bread, reflecting the fact that it is a use for bread that might otherwise be discarded. In Canadian French, it is often called 'pain doré', meaning golden bread, descriptive of the colour achieved when the bread has been finished. 'Arme Ritter' is a 14th century German name for the dish, which translates into poor knights; this is also an alternative English term, along with gypsy toast and eggy bread.

French toast uses sliced bread that is at least a day old, as its ability to absorb the egg and milk mixture in which it soaks improves as it goes stale. Although the name describes it as toast, it is usually pan-fried in butter or oil. I grew up considering it a breakfast dish, served with maple syrup and a side of bacon or scrapple. As an adult, I discovered the pleasure of using lemon and brown sugar to produce a sweet dessert. Online sources tell me that it can also be served as a savoury dish, which I may investigate in the near future!

Answer: Caesar salad

You can put croutons on almost any salad, to add some crunch, but they are not traditionally part of a Greek salad, and they are one of the standard ingredients listed for a Caesar salad. A Caesar salad starts with Romaine lettuce (also called cos lettuce) or a similar lettuce if that is not available, and always includes croutons. What else goes in is a matter of debate, but some form of egg, parmesan cheese and anchovies are common inclusions.

To make croutons, start by cutting your stale bread into cubes. Most instructions then say to add some oil along with choice of herbs for flavour and bake; some suggest frying. Personally, I like to use my microwave, with no oil, and produce dry croutons that soak up the salad dressing.

Answer: breadcrumbs

If you find battered fish a bit greasy (or don't have the oil for deep-frying), you can consider dredging the fish pieces in beaten egg, then coating them in breadcrumbs to produce a coating that will come up light and crispy, and can be pan-fried using much less oil than is required to fry a battered piece of fish.

Making breadcrumbs is much easier with stale bread then fresh bread. If it is stale enough, you may be able to simply grate it - or use a food processor. They need to be dried, either in the oven or a microwave, if they are to produce a crunch. This also improves their shelf life.

Answer: Frosting

Filling the inside of a bird or fish, or rolling a piece of meat around the mixture, is a traditional way of adding flavour to the protein, as well as producing a tasty side dish. The basis is usually a mixture of starches and herbs, so stale bread is a good start. You can turn it into crumbs, or leave it in slightly larger pieces for texture, before mixing with your choice of flavouring agents. Onion and sage dressing is a classic combination for poultry; lemon and parsley goes beautifully with fish. And one can also stuff vegetables - stuffed portobello mushrooms are delicious!

It should be noted that current advice suggests the practice of filling the body cavity when cooking poultry may lead to undercooked stuffing which potentially harbours bacteria; cooking until the centre of the stuffing has reached a high enough temperature to be guaranteed safe may well lead to overcooked meat. I do it anyway - cooking the dishes separately means the stuffing cannot absorb flavour from the juices.

Answer: Wales

Welsh rarebit was once called Welsh rabbit, and an 18th century recipe book explains how it differs from Scotch rabbit and English rabbit - the Welsh toast the bread on one side before adding cheese, the Scotch toast both sides first, the English get to soak the bread in red wine first! The term rabbit is thought to be a humourous, if insulting, term suggesting that the folk who eat it either don't know the difference between cheese and rabbit, or cannot afford rabbit. In any case, it is now called Welsh rarebit, no matter how it is prepared - and there is absolutely no common ground between the recipes beyond the toast and cheese.

Because of the moisture from the cheese, especially if it is made into a sauce, along with ale and mustard, and maybe a dash of Worcestershire sauce, stale bread makes a fine toast for the base.

Answer: Italy

Panzanella originates in the Italian regions of Tuscany and Umbria. It is a stale bread salad, with other ingredients varying regionally. The starting point is always stale bread; traditionally it is chopped into bite-sized pieces before being soaked then squeezed dry, but upmarket recipes suggest making croutons.

The next standard ingredient is tomatoes - and you can use up some of those that got a bit soft before you got around to them, as they can be roughly chopped, and do not need delicate slicing. Chop some red onion and cucumber, add a drizzle of olive oil and a splash of vinegar, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and shred a bit of basil for a garnish.

There you have it, a perfect summer dish! (Other ingredients can, of course, be added, but this is the classic version.)

Answer: False

Garlic bread is also sometimes called garlic toast, because the toasting process helps the garlic to develop a richer flavour, and lose some of the bitterness it has when raw. The garlic is mixed with butter or oil, which is then spread over the sliced bread, or between pieces of a partially-sliced loaf. Letting the garlic mixture stand before use will help spread its flavour throughout the dish. The bread can then be baked or placed under a grill, to produce a crunchy outer crust and a soft garlicky centre.

Variations include the addition of herbs such as parsley (thought to reduce the garlic-breath effect) or chives, and/or including cheese of some sort either mixed with the garlic or sprinkled over the top.

Answer: Pita bread

You can make a cracker from a dark rye, but it will have quite a strong flavour, and be more suitable for use with a cheese board than for dips. Pita bread, however, is perfect. Fresh pita can just be sliced into appropriately-sized shapes. Stale pita, however, is best sliced then dry-baked in an oven to produce a pita crisp.

Other breads can be crisped, too, by rolling them flat before baking.

Answer: French onion soup

Your stale bread is perfect to make the topping. Slice thickly, cover with cheese, and grill until the cheese has melted, then place on top of your soup. Alternatively, place the bread on the soup, cover with cheese and then bake or grill to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

French onion soup is based on beef broth and onions. Once the onions have been caramelized, recipes vary widely as to other ingredients, which may include wine or sherry, bay leaves or other herbs, and possibly flour as a thickening agent. Some recipes even settle for water instead of the beef stock!

Do not try to make French onion dip with your soup, although you could make bread crisps to dunk into it. This dip is made from sour cream and packet instant French onion soup mix.

Answer: False

On the contrary, it is a dessert dish that combines bread (traditionally stale bread), custard and dried fruit. Stale bread works well! Slices of buttered bread (sometimes also spread with jam) are placed in a flat dish and raisins are scattered over them before being covered with a spiced custard and baked.

The pudding can be served with more custard, or cream or ice cream. Lots of creative license allows cooks to use different flavouring agents in the custard, as well as selecting alternative dried fruits and types of bread.