Croissants v. Toast

 

Among the almost meaningless details of life in France to obsess over, I would like to discuss today the subject of toast.

In my increasingly lengthy lifetime (well isn't everyone's? Except dead people's I guess), I have gone in and out on toast. From delighted childhood experiments with toast covered in cinammon and sugar and saturated in butter to my daily breakfast during my last years in Saint Minneapolis of avocado on dense german rye toast, toast has made sometimes steady appearances and sometimes disappeared from my life for years at a time.

Alas, this will not be a recounting of my life through toast though.

I'm sorry for that. I would like to read it too!

But I will say enough of my history to note that going to Japan was a bit of an eyeopener when it came to toast. They were really into it! They would make these beautiful milk bread loaves and the best cafes would serve glorious buttered toast with coffee for breakfast, often with a small salad and slightly poached egg. 

I still miss it.

Here in France we have the croissant, and it's pretty great really. Not least because even at the most wildly overpriced beach cafe serving the worst possible croissant, it's only 2.50 at the most and often perfectly edible. Add 20 or 30 cents if you want a pain au chocolate which isn't exactly a croissant, but for our purposes it is exactly a croissant, only with a bit of chocolate in it. 

You're not a caveperson, you know the deal.

But toast is also a regular habitue of the breakfast selection here in France. And here's where the tiny madnesses of France rear their head.

Toast, served with buerre et confiture (butter and jam), is reliably at least three times the cost of a croissant. Three times!

Is this toast made with an exquisite milk bread like in Japan?

Not that I've noticed.

Does it come with copious, stunning French butter?

No, the butter looks to be a modest pat, not usually especially nicely presented, and, well, it's France, and butter, so at least that's perfectly fine, but...

Oh, and there's a little tin of jam at best.

All of this goes for like, five to eight euros!

Needless to say I don't ever have toast here.

And it probably shouldn't fascinate me so much. Some cafe items have a huge mark up here. It's not like I refuse to buy all these perfuntory french cappuccinos for often as much as five euros. I understand about restaurants and cafes and the economics of mark ups. And I would do best to enjoy the delightful nearly at cost French items, like baguettes, or croissants, or fresh orange juice, rather than obssessing over where they make their money back.

But toast?

Toast?!