.jpg) Texas toast made withmozzarella andMonterey Jack cheese | |
| Place of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Region or state | Texas |
Texas toast is a toasted bread that is typically made fromsliced bread that has been sliced at double the usual thickness of packaged bread. Texas toast is prepared by spreadingbutter on both sides of the bread andbroiling or grilling it until it is a light golden brown. Commonly,garlic is added to the butter, yielding a form ofgarlic bread. The toast may includecheese on one or both sides, similar to anopen-facedgrilled cheese sandwich.
Popular not only inTexas and its bordering states, Texas toast is often served as a side withsouthern-style dishes, such aschicken fried steak, friedcatfish,[1] orbarbecue.[2][3]
Thick-sliced bread sold for making Texas toast can be used in the same manner as ordinary bread slices, such as insandwiches, and it is especially useful for dishes involving liquids or where extra thickness could improve the product, such asFrench toast. While most varieties sold for Texas toast arewhite bread, whole wheat varieties also exist.[4]
Frozen Texas toast brands are also popular, with best sellers including the New York Brand of theT. Marzetti Company, andPepperidge Farm.[5]
One claimant to the invention of Texas toast isKirby's Pig Stand. The once-thriving chain, whose heyday in the 1940s saw over 100 locations across the United States, also claims to be the originator of theonion ring.[6] Texas toast may have been first created in 1946 at the Pig Stand inDenton, Texas, after a bakery order for thicker slices of bread resulted in slices too thick for the toaster and a cook, Wiley W. W. Cross, suggested buttering and grilling them as a solution. Another Pig Stand cook inBeaumont, Texas, claimed he created the idea of grilling the bread. W.W.W. Cross is also credited for combining the Texas toast withchicken fried steak to create Kirby's Pig Stand's famous Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich.[7]
