MARK HIX, writing in The Guardian about presenting food on toast, inspired me to reacquaint myself with this fine tradition of English cookery, which can be as elegant as smoked-salmon paté on tiny pieces of crustless white toast or as homely as baked beans on a slice of toasted wholemeal.
I reminded you of Mrs Rundell’s New System of Domestic Cookery (Cookery, 16 July), and I thought it would be worth seeing what Jane Austen’s generation would have served up on toast. There are some hearty savouries, including Roast cheese.
Grate 90g (3 oz) of Cheshire cheese, mix it with the yolks of two eggs, 100-125g (4 oz) of grated bread, and 90g (3 oz) of butter: beat well in a mortar with a dessertspoonful of mustard, and a little salt and pepper. Toast some bread, cut it into pieces, lay the paste on thickly, cover with a dish and put them into a Dutch oven until hot. Remove the dish and let the cheese brown a little.
Mrs Rundell gives two variations on Anchovy toast: the first is to bone and skin six or eight anchovies, pound them with 30g (1 oz) of butter until the colour is equal, and then spread it on toast. The second is to fry thin slices of bread in clarified butter. Wash three anchovies, split and pound them in a mortar with some fresh butter, rub them through a hair-sieve, and spread on the toast when cold. Then quarter and wash some anchovies and lay them on the toast.
Her Eggs on toast contains 30g(1 oz) butter for every egg, scrambled into a golden mess. I made a version that has a touch of the Raj.
Spinach and coriander eggs on toast
2 bunches of fresh spinach, washed
1 handful fresh coriander leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
as much chilli as you dare
3 tablespoons cold-pressed hemp oil
salt and pepper
6-8 eggs, beaten
In a large frying pan or wok, melt the oil, and add the spices until they are well warmed through. Add the damp spinach and coriander, and let it wilt, stirring the leaves in with the spices when they are soft. Tip them out of the pan and roughly chop the mixture. Return it to the pan, at the same medium heat, and stir in the eggs. Season well, and serve the mixture on toast.
Agnes Jekyll’s book Kitchen Essays has an interesting chapter on savouries. Why have these fallen out of favour? Perhaps the ubiquitous advertisements for puddings for comfort and sex appeal mean that angels- and devils-on-horseback seem old-fashioned.
“Marrow bones with hot toast and lots of pepper, though ogre’s food, are too good not to be sometimes invited to the party; but let them appear rarely, and in the absence of the sensitive.” How you would cook the marrow bones, Miss Jekyll doesn’t say. I am on more familiar territory with her mushrooms on toast — a purée of fried mushrooms blended with a little béchamel sauce, seasoned and piled on to pieces of toast, each garnished with a grilled mushroom.