Toast-attd-water
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut a slice from a stale loaf, preferably a piece of hard crust.
Toast the bread until it is a nice brown on all sides, avoiding burning.
Steep and strain
Place the toasted bread in a jug and pour the boiling water over it.
Cover the jug closely and let it sit until cold.
Strain the mixture before use.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Stale bread
- Toasted bread gives the water its browned, toasty flavour and aroma.
- Boiling water
- Hot water draws flavour and aroma compounds out of the toasted bread as it steeps.
The step that matters
Toast the bread until brown, not burnt. Browning produces the toasty flavour compounds that the water will extract, while burnt bits add bitter, acrid notes that carry into the liquid.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.