flipPain perdu from the day after
Pain perdu from the day after
Why this dish? The frugal, anti-waste cooking of a man who ate simply: stale bread is not thrown away, it is transformed. An economical treat, reflecting a life where little was spent on the table and everything on ideas.
Slices of stale bread soaked in a mixture of egg and sweetened milk, then pan-fried until golden. The clever dessert that revives yesterday's bread.
We didn't throw away bread in my time — you'd have to have a strange idea of freedom to waste what you have. Yesterday's stale bread, soaked in egg and milk then browned in butter, becomes tender and sweet again: proof that a thing is never condemned to what it has become. A little sugar on top, and you allow yourself a simple sweetness between two chapters. Nothing is truly lost, except the time you refuse to use.
- •Stale bread — a few slices (base)
- •Eggs — 2 (binder)
- •Milk — a bowl (soaking liquid)
- •Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- •Butter — a knob (cooking)
Pain perdu from the day after
Slices of stale bread soaked in a mixture of egg and sweetened milk, then pan-fried until golden. The clever dessert that revives yesterday's bread.
Why this dish? The frugal, anti-waste cooking of a man who ate simply: stale bread is not thrown away, it is transformed. An economical treat, reflecting a life where little was spent on the table and everything on ideas.
We didn't throw away bread in my time — you'd have to have a strange idea of freedom to waste what you have. Yesterday's stale bread, soaked in egg and milk then browned in butter, becomes tender and sweet again: proof that a thing is never condemned to what it has become. A little sugar on top, and you allow yourself a simple sweetness between two chapters. Nothing is truly lost, except the time you refuse to use.
Ingredients (period version)
- Stale bread — a few slices (base)
- Eggs — 2 (binder)
- Milk — a bowl (soaking liquid)
- Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- Butter — a knob (cooking)
Ingredients
- Stale country bread or brioche — 4 thick slices (base)
- Eggs — 2 (binder)
- Milk — 250 ml (soaking liquid)
- Sugar — 2 tbsp (sweetness)
- Butter — 20 g (cooking)
- Icing sugar or cinnamon — optional (finishing)
Method
- Beat the eggs with the milk and part of the sugar in a shallow dish.
- Soak the bread slices for a few seconds on each side, without saturating completely.
- Melt the butter in a hot pan.
- Brown the slices for 2 to 3 minutes per side until well colored.
- Sprinkle with sugar (or cinnamon) and serve warm, with black coffee.
How it was made : Pain perdu — literally "lost bread" that is recovered — is a very old popular dish, attested in France well before the 20th century. It is the dessert of modest families, made from leftovers, reinvented by each generation with whatever is on hand.
The contemporary twist : Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel: the "lost" bread becomes the highlight of the dinner.
Jean-Paul Sartre · Charactorium
