For as long as humans have been making bread, we’ve been looking for ways to use up the leftovers. In medieval Europe, thrifty cooks began softening stale ends with boiling water, adding sugar and spices and baking the mixture into bread pudding. In the time since, nearly every culinary culture has developed its own spin on the recipe: In France, dried-out slices are transformed into pain perdu via a custard soak and a pan fry; in the Middle East, toughened scraps are revived with rosewater syrup to make the treat known as aish el saraya; in Vietnam, day-old loaves are blended with bananas and coconut milk to form the batter of a succulent cake called banh chuoi nuong; and in India and Pakistan, there’s shahi tukra, a decadent sweet made by bathing sizzled slices in saffron-infused milk.
In France, dried-out slices are transformed into pain perdu via a custard soak and a pan fry; in the Middle East, toughened scraps are revived with rosewater syrup to make the treat known as aish el saraya; in Vietnam, day-old loaves are blended with bananas and coconut milk to form the batter of a succulent cake called banh chuoi nuong; and in India and Pakistan, there’s shahi tukra, a decadent sweet made by bathing sizzled slices in saffron-infused milk.
Their disparate flavors notwithstanding, all of these dishes rely on essentially the same method: using desiccated bread as a sponge to soak up flavorful liquid.
[Note: The text continues in a similar vein, describing various ways to repurpose stale bread in desserts, including using it as a base for ice cream, adding it to milk and sugar, and using it as a crunchy garnish for other desserts.]
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