Passing through Utrecht, a quaint, canal town an hour’s ride from Amsterdam, I shared a dorm with Bart, a Polak and cherubin-headed clown who worked a shift a week at the hostel we both lived in. Bart’s boss was Evelyn, an eccentric Dutch woman who had, to her knowledge or not, cultivated the early wisps of a goat beard and, in hindsight, resembled the Fratelli mum from The Goonies. No ordinary hostel here—on the walls hung stringed instruments, grand piano in the parquet rumpus room; and Evelyn, bless her heart, took it upon herself to supply ample free wine each night, and tray upon tray of fresh eggs in the morning.
Bart seemed to rely exclusively on a diet of wine and egg. Each morning, sliding on his sandals, patting his buzzcut, beaming at the sight of a tray of fresh laids. In plummy Polish, he’d declare: “eetz time for ze eggy breads…”
If it’s eggy breads in Utrecht (and presumably Krakow), Pain Perdu in Paris, it’s without doubt Berlin Toast in the Deutsch capital. This week, sh.k dishes up a fat fusion of fresh brot, eier and milch, drowned in A.Horn syrup and segmented fruits, for the finest frühstück in town. Es schmekt gut!
Gives you a case of the Barts just looking at it.
- 6 slices of white or rye bread, sliced 1.5cm thick
- 6 rashers of streaky bacon
- 4 free-range eggs
- 2 blood oranges
- 1 pink grapefruit
- 150ml of milk
- 55g of caster sugar
- 2 tbls of butter
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- Pure maple syrup
- Handful of fresh mint
- Icing sugar for dusting
- In a large bowl place the eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Whisk together until light, fluffy and well combined. Add the slices of bread and ensure each one is well covered, set aside.
- Slice segments of blood orange and pink grapefruit ensuring the skin and pith is removed from each piece.
- Set the grill or broiler on high and place the bacon rashers under the heat to cook until crispy.
- Heat a frying pan to medium high and add some butter. Once the butter starts to bubble, add a slice of bread, and fry on both sides until lightly golden and cooked through, approximately 2 minutes each side.
- Once the bread slices are cooked, top with the crispy bacon, citrus segments, some mint leaves, and a generous volume of maple syrup. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.
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