I was recently visiting some friends in Oxford, England, and, after a night of cooking and drinking--a huge pot of fragrant ramen soup with pork dumplings, countless bottles of wine, champagne, beer, and something pink that was opened very, very late--I woke up to the smell of eggs. Though my head should have been throbbing, I was surprisingly alert, and wandered to find Dan, our British host, cheerily frying something away on the stovetop.
He wished me a chipper good morning as I wandered over to find out what he was cooking, and to locate a glass of water. My curiosity, however, seemed incredibly strange to him. He answered my question as to what was for breakfast with a "you mean you don't know?" stupefied sort of look. His English politness kept him from getting too uppity, but I could tell I was appearing like quite the ignoramus about the matter at hand. "It's eggy bread...of course," came his reply, as he exited the kitchen and sat down to eat some kind of egg-coated toast.
My inquiries as to the recipe, as I followed him to the table, were met with an equally nonplussed response. The sense I was beginning to get from Dan was this: eggy bread is self-evident. This is something basic. Simple. And definitey recipe-less. So bugger off.
In my sleepy haze I was of course failing to grasp the basic truth of the situation, which others reading now from the comfort of soberness might have already ascertained.
Eggy bread, a slice of white loaf dipped in egg whisked with milk and fried in butter, is simply French toast without the sweetness. It is a food I've consumed in countless American diners, and on countless Sunday mornings as a kid. But that morning I found eggy bread unrecognizable without its sheen of maple syrup and its fragrant nutmeg and cinnamon spices. Still, there it was, plain and obvious. And it floored me. A savory French toast. (A British toast?) Something deliciously simple, seasoned with just salt and pepper.
I proceeded to make my own that morning, and then again. And it has since become a very fond breakfast of mine, ready in minutes and a little something out of the ordinary compared to normal cereal fare. For some reason, making French toast seems like a laborious affair for lazy Sunday mornings--but eggy bread is as simple as dropping an egg into a bowl, whisking it with a splash of milk, soaking the bread while the pan heats and the butter melts, and frying it until crisp. Easily completed half-asleep before heading to work.
A quick breakfast that's genuinely good is hard to find, especially a variety of ideas to keep life interesting. And so Eggy Bread has entered my repertoire. And if you're so inclined, it might be a good one for yours as well (that is, if you happen to be as ignorant of Eggy Bread as I was, which, judging from the Google results, may not be the case).
And if you have any other genius quick breakfast ideas, please do share them in the comments.
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Sambal-cheese toast: a slice of bread with chili paste (sambal), topped with cheese. Toast it in a baking pan on your stove top until crisp. Mjum.
Leftover salmon or other fish, or even canned salmon. Oil, eggs, skillet. Scramble. Fast enough. And very good.
We used to call that egg toast when I was growing up.
Breakfast ideas? Bean, potato and egg tacos. Or maybe migas…but I’ve only had the Tex-Mex version, myself.
This looks good. Our quick breakfast usually is smearing peanut butter on an english muffin and then toasting it in a toaster oven until the peanut butter starts to brown on top. A dab of jam or drizzle of honey and it will happily get us to lunch.
I usually just toast a slice of sourdough bread, spread with some butter then smash half an avocado on it. Sprinkle with salt. Presto! Avocado Toast.
Although I come from a family where ANYTHING is considered breakfast food. Sushi, pasta, ribs, whatever is in the fridge is fair game. The only reason I get up early is because it gives me the advantage when raiding the fridge.
We used to eat both savoury and sweet kinds when I was a kid. We never made them with cinnamon or sugar though, just milk and eggs and were left to ourselves to decide the toppings. My dad with the sweet tooth always had maple syrup on his, and me some fat-free chicken broth powder.
Eggy Bread! A good friend, who happens to be English, left the US tonight, so this post feels particularly appropirate as he was a huge fan of eggy bread.
I think I need the sweetness, though–it’s one of the few exceptions to my normally savory-friendly attitude towards weekend breakfast.
mmmm…eggy bread. You’re right though, if you don’t see it in the context of french toast fare, it’s hard to fathom.
My winter breakfast meal of choice is always cinnamon toast. Since I make my own bread, I bake a loaf of brioche or Portuguese sweet bread once a week in the winter. I slice off a piece, place in the toaster, pull out the cinnamon, nutmeg and butter, and wait for that warm piece of goodness to pop up. Add a hot mug of hot chocolate, and a spoonful of peanut butter(I never spread it on the toast….sacrilege!), and you are set for the morning!
As I’m a groggy morning person this quick recipe for eggy bread is just right. I like the versatility of it as well.
Some mornings I toast a waffle, spread a gob of peanut butter across the squares then top with a scattering of golden raisins. Other days I mush an avocado into a cup of Greek yogurt and sprinkle with fresh chives and pepper.
Hm, that sounds like the kind of thing I will be trying tomorrow morning! Maybe some thyme and parmesan in there would be nice also?
Although very similar to french toast because of the cinnamon aspect I like mine with chinese five spice
Now why didn’t Americans think of that? Un-sweet french toast? I don’t like sweet food, so this caught my interest. Brilliant! I followed you from Phoo-D and really enjoy your writing.
Oh Yes,
Eggy toast. I grew up with it. As English people newly arrived in Canada in the 60’s we found the sweet breakfasts very odd, as well as the North American use of ketchup on everything. However, we made one exception with a favourite breakfast of eggy toast evenly spread with ketchup and topped with crisp bacon. Try it- it is heaven!
This does sound great…especially since i’m not a fan of sweet breakfast foods.
My quick breakfast is an egg sandwich i grew up with: a fried egg (i do over-hard), 2 pieces of toasted whole wheat bread, drizzled with soy sauce. i’ve heard from others that it’s good with cheese, I just can’t bring myself to combine cheese and soy sauce.
It’s known as ‘vaesed rüütlid’ in Estonian (look it up
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I must admit I love this type of breakfast – but even more so, I like the savoury one (egg, dash of milk or water, salt, sprinkling of chopped herbs) even more, and that’s been one of my favourite breakfasts for decades. (Works well with rukkileib aka black bread, too).
I’m too embarrassed to reveal our quick breakfasts…but when there’s just a bit of time eggs are always part of the equation. For some reason a fried egg on a buttered-and-toasted whole-wheat English muffin is just a great combo.
I like to press a hole in my toast with a glass. Put the toast on a pan and crack and egg in the hole and fry until crisp. We called it egg in a window.
My all time favorite breakfast: Egg any style on buttered toast. Grey Poupon on the side. Excellent coffee. Take your time. Life is good.
If you want to drop the bread, take a ripe banana, mash it up with a fork and mix it with the egg, and fry it up. Very tasty.
Well, basically, French toast can be savory or sweet. At least that’s how I’ve always known it to be. Sure, most of the time I eat it sweet, but I’ve never felt it to have to be sweet. Oh well.
yeah i usually make mine with fresh herbs mixed into the eggs. my friend finishes his with a sprinking of a grey sea salt and herb mix….AWESOME!
another breakfast staple for me is toast with a spread of cream cheese, then topped with either avocado slices with a sprinkling of sea salt and cracked pepper or raspberry preserves. yummmm
I know what’s for breakfast tomorrow!