During my absence from blogging, I got a craving for one of my favorite foods in the world: French toast (thank you Denny's for making me an addict;)). Let me just tell you that there is NO French toast in Chile :(...at least not around Valpo. So several years ago I "created" Chilean French Toast.
Since this is a fusion dish, I couldn't just use the same old bread that comes pre-sliced (yes, that I can find in the grocery store) or the typical syrup (also in the grocery store, although it's a little pricey for plain, old maple syrup). So, I tried using bread from the local bakery.
In Chile, there is a bakery or small store selling fresh bread on every other block, even Santiago. Therefore, you are never far away from fresh, crispy bread. You will find several types of bread at any one of these stores, but the most popular types are hallulla (ah-yu-ya) and batido (literally whipped, but I'd go with kneaded. it's also called marraqueta in some places). In the first type, the dough is rolled out to 1/4" thickness and cut with round cookie cutter-like things. In the second, the dough rolled into the shape you see below.
So, here goes the recipe:Have the whisked eggs ready with a little bit of milk in them. Take your day-old batido and slice it to about a 1/4". The bread can't be too fresh cuz it will turn into a glob of mush. I suggest discarding the slices from the top and bottom crusts.
Dip the slices into the egg and milk mixture and let them get soaked through. The milk will help soften up the bread, which can get a bit dry and hard. Then, throw the soaked slices onto a hot, greased griddle or non stick pan. Once they are golden brown, serve them warm with coconut palm syrup or your favorite jam. And that's it. Simple, fast and tasty, my favorite type of food.
I tried to get a picture of the finished product, but the vultures beat me to it! They were gone in 5 minutes. :D
1 comment:
Yummmmmmmm! Now I'm gonna have to make some french toast for breakfast this weekend!
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