“Cheese bread – is a good bread. Cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread. Sexy, sexy cheese bread. Butter bread and quark certainly taste good. But the cheese bread goes straight into the blood” – that’s what Helge Schneider’s infamous ode sounds like. And nobody really wants to badmouth his cheese sandwich. After all, cheese bread is really good bread. But you also have to be honest: things can be better. More exciting in terms of taste. It doesn’t take much more than a little imagination or Prue Leith. The South African culinary great has made it her mission to take the taste of the slices to the next level – instead of the monotony of cheese and the classic sausage-pickle combo, she serves balsamic eggplant or cream cheese with apricots on bread.
For some, the crime scene is part of their Sunday evening ritual, for Prue Leith it’s a little something on toasted bread. A little luxury that she established after the children left home – uncomplicated, quick soul food on hand. That was 30 years ago now. That’s a lot of time for experimentation. In “Toast it! Crispy slices of bread lavishly topped” Leith has written down 75 of her creative recipes. These include tried-and-tested classics such as scrambled eggs and mushrooms on bread, but also more original toppings such as mashed kale, roasted butternut squash or duck egg. What all the recipes have in common: they are quick to prepare.
Crusty bread – quick, convenient, delicious
Speed and convenience are important to many today – including herself – writes Leith in the foreword to the book. That’s why she uses a variety of prepared ingredients, whether bottled or canned, whenever she can. “I never fully understood the reservations about ready-made sauces or foods from packets and cans,” says Leith. As long as the quality is good, there is nothing wrong with it. However, if you make everything from A to Z yourself, you will also find tips in the book on how to prepare some basic ingredients, such as making flatbread. It’s even done so quickly that you can’t buy it in the supermarket any quicker.
Four recipes from “Toast it! Crispy slices of bread lavishly topped” by Prue Leith we present to you in the photo series above.
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