Is French toast from France? Yes and no. Dipping bread in eggs and frying it is a pretty universal solution to making stale bread go further. The French certainly had a medieval version and this later became a name that has been enthusiastically adopted for the de luxe versions. The earliest recorded recipe for the dish occurs in the work of the Roman cook in the first century AD. In his book The Art of Cooking, he writes, rather casually, that it’s just another sweet dish.

However, the dish was also sometimes referred to as ‘Poor Knights of Windsor’. One theory offered in explanation is that the most expensive part of a medieval banquet was dessert  — spices and nuts were costly imports. Although titled, not all knights were rich, so a dish of fried eggy-⁠bread served with jam or honey would have fulfilled the requirements of etiquette without breaking the bank.