Texas toast

Texas toast
Bread
A slice of Texas toast on top on a bagged loaf of bread
Place of origin:
United States
Region or state:
Texas
Recipes at Wikibooks:
Texas toast
Media at Wikimedia Commons:
Texas toast

Texas toast is a type of packaged bread (not sold toasted as the name implies) which is sold sliced at double the typical thickness of most sliced breads. While it can be used in the same manner as ordinary bread slices such as in sandwiches,^[1] it is especially useful for dishes involving liquids, such as barbecue sauce, or where extra thickness can improve the product, such as French toast. It is typically a white bread. Producers of Texas toast in the United States include Franz Bakery,^[2] Mrs. Bairds and Safeway/Lucerne Foods.

Popular in Texas and the states surrounding it, Texas toast is generally served toasted as a side with southern-style dishes such as chicken fried steak, fried catfish,^[3] or BBQ.^[4][5] Texas toast can also be used when making toasted sandwiches.

The actual toast itself is made by putting butter or margarine on both sides of the bread and broiling it until lightly golden brown. Depending on the recipe, the spread may have seasonings such as garlic. The toast may have cheese on one or both sides.

The best selling varieties of Texas toast are frozen breads, sold with a garlic or garlic and cheese spread which is applied immediately after baking. The best selling brands are the New York Brand of the T. Marzetti Company, Pepperidge Farm, and Coles.^[6]

Some recipes include regular or thick-sliced bread cooked in a frying pan used to fry steak, bacon, or other meat product in order to absorb the grease from the meat (cf. fried bread).

History

One claimant to the invention of Texas toast is the Kirbys Pig Stand restaurant chain, founded in Oak Cliff, a neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, in the early 1920s. The once-thriving chain, whose heyday in the 1940s saw over 100 locations across the United States, also claims to be the originator of the onion ring.^[7] Texas toast may have been first created in 1941 at the Pig Stand in Beaumont, Texas, after a bakery order for thicker slices of bread resulted in slices too thick for the toaster and a cook who suggested buttering and grilling them as a remedy.^[8]

References