Crouton
Croutons are small cubes of toasted or fried bread . They serve as a soup insert (traditionally with fish soup and tomato soup ), as a salad insert (especially with Caesar salad orlamb's lettuce ), as a side dish or as a base for small pieces of meat, ragouts and the like (e.g. with bruschetta ). Potato dumplings are often filled with a few croutons.
Larger, hollowed out and stuffed croutons are croûtes .
history
Croutons are etymologically derived from the Latin crusta = the crust; crustum = fine baked goods with a crust; from or their reduction : crustulum = sugar cookies .
In French, the term croûton first appeared in the 17th century as a description of a small piece of bread crust served with drinks.
In the 18th century the term can be found in the German-language Economic Encyclopedia :
"In culinary art, croutons are called bread slices or Franzbrodrinden (either whole or cut into cubes) that have been baked hard in hot butter."
About a hundred years later, the term can be found in an extension of these (previously) simple forms:
"Croutons are slices of milk bread or bread rolls, which are cut in the shape of triangles, half moons, small chops, etc., either fried in butter or fried in baking butter, or moistened with a little milk, sprinkled with salt, breaded with egg and bread and in Baked butter can be baked to serve as garnish for some vegetables or other dishes. Milk bread, which has been cut into small round slices or cut into thin strips the length of a finger and fried yellow in butter or dried yellow in the oven, is also called croutons. The latter is served in soups. "
Another 50 years later, croutons are:
“Croutons are crescents, triangles, squares cut from bread or rusk slices that are baked in hot butter or lard to a light brown color. They are used as a garnish for meat puddings, fricassees, ragouts, vegetables. They are also cut as triangles from aspic and used to garnish cold meat, fish and salad. "
Today they usually refer, as originally, to simple bread or herb bread cubes that are roasted in fat (primarily butter) and served as an accompaniment to soups and salads.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Alan Eaton Davidson : The Oxford Companion to Food . Ed .: Tom Jaine. 3. Edition. Oxford University Press , New York 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-104072-6 , keyword “crouton” .