flipPain Perdu for the Little Ones
Pain Perdu for the Little Ones
Why this dish? A devoted teacher of poor children, Louise Michel knew the power of a sweet treat offered. Pain perdu—stale bread soaked in milk and egg, browned in a pan—was the only sweet that modest families could afford, made from leftovers and a hint of sugar.
Slices of stale bread swollen with sweetened milk and egg, browned in a pan until soft inside and crispy outside. A delicacy born of the refusal to waste.
Don't cry over this hardened bread, my child—nothing is lost, not even pain perdu! Look: we bathe it in milk with a beaten egg, sweeten it with a little, and brown it until the whole room smells good. It was our only sweet, and I assure you no pastry chef's cake ever made a child happier. Misery teaches you to make happiness out of next to nothing.
- •Stale bread — a few slices (base)
- •Milk — a bowl (soaking)
- •Egg — one, on good days (binder and glaze)
- •Sugar — a pinch (sweetness)
- •Butter or lard — for the pan (cooking)
Pain Perdu for the Little Ones
Slices of stale bread swollen with sweetened milk and egg, browned in a pan until soft inside and crispy outside. A delicacy born of the refusal to waste.
Why this dish? A devoted teacher of poor children, Louise Michel knew the power of a sweet treat offered. Pain perdu—stale bread soaked in milk and egg, browned in a pan—was the only sweet that modest families could afford, made from leftovers and a hint of sugar.
Don't cry over this hardened bread, my child—nothing is lost, not even pain perdu! Look: we bathe it in milk with a beaten egg, sweeten it with a little, and brown it until the whole room smells good. It was our only sweet, and I assure you no pastry chef's cake ever made a child happier. Misery teaches you to make happiness out of next to nothing.
Ingredients (period version)
- Stale bread — a few slices (base)
- Milk — a bowl (soaking)
- Egg — one, on good days (binder and glaze)
- Sugar — a pinch (sweetness)
- Butter or lard — for the pan (cooking)
Ingredients
- Stale white bread or brioche — 4 slices (base)
- Milk — 250 ml (soaking)
- Eggs — 2 (binder and glaze)
- Sugar — 2 tablespoons (sweetness)
- Butter — 20 g (cooking)
- Cinnamon (optional) — a pinch (flavor)
Method
- Beat the eggs with the milk and half the sugar in a shallow dish.
- Dip each bread slice in the mixture on both sides, without soaking completely.
- Melt the butter in a hot pan.
- Brown the slices for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden.
- Sprinkle with the remaining sugar (and cinnamon) and enjoy warm.
How it was made : Pain perdu is one of Europe's oldest anti-waste dishes; in the 19th century, it was the children's snack, made when the week's bread had dried too much for soup. Sugar, long expensive, became more affordable as French beet sugar developed.
The contemporary twist : In a 'school snack' version: pain perdu sticks to dip in unsweetened applesauce.
Louise Michel · Charactorium
