''Picatostes'' are slices of
fried bread
Fried bread is a slice of bread that has been fried.
Nutrition
A small slice (35g) of fried bread has 174 calories.
Around the world
British Isles
A full English breakfast will often include bread fried in oil, butter, lard, or bacon ...
, from loaves fried with
lard
Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.[Lard]
entry in the o ...
or
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
. They are typical of
Madrid,
Spain. They are usually sweetened with granules of
refined sugar on the outside. They are most commonly eaten for
breakfast
Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...
or a quick
lunch (''merienda''), accompanied by
coffee. They are also sometimes eaten as a substitute for
chocolate and
churros (as a late night snack). They can be eaten hot or cold. As a cheap staple food, they are also a common accompaniment to beverages in the traditional cafés of Madrid where
tertulias are held.
Characteristics
Picatostes are rectangular slices of bread, cut from loaves and fried in lard or olive oil to the point of having a golden color and a crunchy crust. Typically, directly after frying they are dusted with refined sugar. Their shape is suitable for dipping in coffee or hot chocolate. A similar but more savory dish, ''
torrijas'', can be made by soaking the bread in a sauce before frying.
A 1933 reference work on the vocabulary of
Andalusia (southern Spain) says that a ''picatoste'' is a slice of bread soaked in
salt water, then fried. Some writers say that ''pica'' comes from ''picar'' ("to peck", "to bite", or "to burn") and refers to the stimulation of thirst.
Sebastián de Covarrubias Orozco
Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocl ...
, Felipe C. R. Maldonado, Manuel Camarero ''« Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española»'', Ed. Castalia, p. 821.
See also
*
Crouton
Notes
{{reflist
Spanish cuisine
Sweet breads