Toast and Water
Ingredients
Directions
Toast the bread slowly until extremely brown and hard, but not black.
Plunge the toasted bread into a jug of cold water.
Cover and let it sit for an hour before using.
Ensure the bread is a fine brown color before drinking.
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
- Bread
- Toasting browns its starches, adding color, roasted flavor and aroma to the water.
- Cold water
- Slowly draws color and flavor out of the toasted bread without heat.
The step that matters
Toasting the bread to a fine brown. Browning develops flavor and color through Maillard reactions and caramelization, but past a certain point the starches burn, giving bitter, acrid flavors. Stopping at extremely brown and hard, not black, keeps the flavor roasted rather than burnt.
“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.
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