Tostada ( or ; ) is a Spanish word which literally means "toasted". It is used in some Hispanic American countries to name several different traditional local dishes which have in common that they are toasted or use a toasted ingredient as the main base of their preparation. It is similar to the British rusk, German

zwieback Zwieback is a form of rusk eaten in Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, Austria, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. It is a type of crisp, ...

, and Italian fette biscottate.

Cuban tostada

In Cuban cuisine, ''tostada'' refers to a slice of handmade

Cuban bread Cuban bread is a fairly simple white bread, similar to French bread and Italian bread, but has a slightly different baking method and ingredient list (in particular, it generally includes a small amount of fat in the form of lard or vegetable shor ...

, cut lengthwise, buttered, and pressed. The

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

is similar to French bread or Italian bread and is usually made in long, baguette-like loaves. It is the Cuban equivalent of

toast Toast most commonly refers to: * Toast (food), bread browned with dry heat * Toast (honor), a ritual in which a drink is taken Toast may also refer to: Places * Toast, North Carolina, a census-designated place in the United States Books * '' ...

. Typically, tostadas are served as a breakfast alongside (and perhaps dunked into) a hot mug of

cafe con leche A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

(strong dark-roasted Cuban coffee with scalded milk).

Mariana Island tostada

In the Mariana Islands, owing to their years as a Spanish colony, there is an uncommon tradition of the "tostada de agua," (literally, "toast of water"). This dish is made of a fried tortilla topped with minced seaweed, peppers, and meat (generally chopped shrimp, though many varieties exist). Anecdotally, the entire dish was wrapped like a burrito, dunked in sea water briefly (hence the reason of its name), to add salt, offsetting the intensity of the peppers, and then unrolled and cooked until the tortilla has hardened. It is then topped with cheese.

Puerto Rican tostada

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, a tostada is almost the same as the Cuban ''tostada'', but uses a different type of bread. Is a buttered and pressed portion of a '' pan de agua''. Pan de agua is a baguette style bread, very similar to the Philippine Pandesal or the Mexican

Bolillo A ''bolillo'' () (in Mexico) or ''pan francés'' (in Central America) (meaning "French bread") is a type of savory bread made in Mexico and Central America. It is a variation of the baguette, but shorter in length and is often baked in a stone ...

, optionally served with Swiss cheese. The term is also used for

ed slice of pre-sliced bread (''tostada de pan especial''), and for a local version of French toast, typical of Easter, consisting in milk-soaked bread, battered in egg and fried.

References

{{Cite web , date=2010-09-29 , title=Estampas del comer boricua - EnciclopediaPR , url=https://enciclopediapr.org/estampas-del-comer-boricua/ , access-date=2024-04-05 , language=en-US Latin American cuisine Spanish words and phrases Cuban cuisine Puerto Rican cuisine Cuisine of the Mariana Islands

Cuban tostada

Mariana Island tostada

Puerto Rican tostada

See also

References