Texas toast is a type of packaged bread (not sold toasted as the name implies) which is sold sliced at double the average thickness of most sliced breads. The Texas Toast loaf itself is often more squarish compared to most sliced breads which have a more curved side and top. While Texas toast can be used in the same manner as ordinary bread slices such as in sandwiches, it is especially useful for dishes involving liquids, such as barbecue sauce, or where extra thickness could improve the product, such as French toast. In addition, the increased thickness of the slices of Texas Toast lets it retain moisture and softness better than regular sliced bread. It is usually a white bread although there are whole wheat varieties. Producers of Texas toast in the United States include Franz Bakery,, Mrs. Baird's, and Safeway/Lucerne Foods.
Popular in Texas and its bordering states, Texas toast is generally served toasted as a side with southern-style dishes such as chicken fried steak, fried catfish, or BBQ. 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 or grilling it until it is a lightly golden brown. Depending on the recipe, the spread may contain seasonings including garlic, yielding a form of garlic bread. The toast may include cheese on one or both sides, similar to an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich.
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.
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).
Although not sold or labeled as Texas toast, sliced bread throughout Japan is normally the same thickness as Texas toast and is used for making pizza toast.
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. Texas toast may have been first created in 1946 at the Pig Stand in Denton, Texas, after a bakery order for thicker slices of bread resulted in slices too thick for the toaster and a cook, Wiley W. W. Cross, who suggested buttering and grilling them as a solution.Another Pig Stand cook in Beaumont, Texas claimed he creates the idea of grilling the bread. W.W.W. Cross is also credited for combining the Texas Toast with the Chicken Fried Steak to create Kirby's Pig Stand's famous Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich.
See also
- Texas Tommy (hot dog)
- Texas wiener
References
