Melba toast
American Heritage Dictionary:
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Melba toast
n.
Very thinly sliced crisp toast.
[After Dame Nellie MELBA.]
WORD HISTORY The familiar foods named for Helen Porter Mitchell are not recognizable as such unless one knows her stage name was Dame Nellie Melba. This famous opera singer of the late 19th and early 20th century, who took her last name from her native city of Melbourne, inspired others to honor her by naming things such as "soaps and sauces, ribbons and ruffles" after her. Perhaps the best known of such honors are Melba toast and peach Melba. Auguste Escoffier, the famous chef, is thought to have had a hand in both. Melba toast is said to be derived from the crisp toast that was part of Dame Melba's diet during the year 1897, a year in which she was very ill. The hotel proprietor César Ritz supposedly named it in a conversation with Escoffier. Pêche Melba was said to have been created by Escoffier for an 1892 party honoring the singer at the Savoy Hotel in London, although neither Escoffier nor Melba agreed with this version of events.
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Melba toast
Oxford Food & Nutrition Dictionary:
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melba toast
Originally a split slice of toasted bread, retoasted; now a thin slice of bread dried in the oven to a golden-brown colour. See also zwieback.
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Also created by Auguste Escoffier for opera singer Dame Nellie Melba (see melba sauce), this toast is exceedingly thin and dry. It's sold packaged in most supermarkets and is used to accompany soups, salads and the like.
Nutritional Values:
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The Nutritional Value for: melba toast, plain
| Quantity | Energy (calories) |
Carbohydrates (grams) |
Protein (grams) |
Cholesterol (milligrams) |
Weight (grams) |
Fat (grams) |
Saturated Fat (grams) |
| 1 piece | 20 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.1 |
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categories related to 'melba toast'
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Melba toast
This article is about the food. For the entertainer, see Melba Toast.
Melba toast is a very dry, crisp and thinly sliced toast often served with soup and salad or topped with either melted cheese or pâté. It is named after Dame Nellie Melba, the stage name of Australian opera singer Helen Porter Mitchell. Its name is thought to date from 1897, when the singer was very ill and it became a staple of her diet. The toast was created for her by chef and fan Auguste Escoffier, who also created the Peach Melba dessert for her. The hotel proprietor César Ritz supposedly named it in a conversation with Escoffier.[1]
Melba toast is usually made by lightly toasting bread in the normal way of making toast. Once the outside of the bread is slightly firm, it is removed from the toaster and then each slice is cut laterally with a bread knife to make two slices that are half the original thickness of the bread. These two thin slices are then toasted again to make Melba toast.[2] Melba Toast is also available commercially, and was at one time given to infants who were teething as a hard food substance on which to chew.
In 1925, the Mayo Brothers prescribed the "Eighteen Day Reducing Diet" to Ethel Barrymore. It included Melba toast, which made the toast very popular at the time. Melba toast can also be used to make stuffing or dressing.
See also
Notes
- ^ Humes, James C. (1978). Speaker's Treasury of Anecdotes About the Famous. Harper and Row. pp. 19. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/0-06-012008-0|0-06-012008-0]].
- ^ Great British Cookbook - Melba Toast
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Oxford Food & Nutrition Dictionary
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.
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Barron's Food Lover's Companion
Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Random House Word Menu
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