# "What Do They Call French Toast in France?" & Similar Questions
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 1, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300 "2007-06-01T04:06:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/1 "2007-06-01T04:06:52Z")
Answer: Pain perdu (lost bread).
I need some other answers along these lines.
What do Brazilians call Brazil nuts?
What do Germans call German measles?
What do the English call English muffins?
Anything along these lines…
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/2 "2007-06-01T04:14:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> What do the English call English muffins?
English muffins are an English delicacy which is curiously unavailable in England, to quote… Bill Bryson, maybe.
And it’s true. I’d never seen (nor heard) of them until I came to America.
Now I call them, “tasty”.
---
### Author:  [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/3 "2007-06-01T04:15:05Z")
[QUOTE=astorian]
Answer: Pain perdu (lost bread).
I need some other answers along these lines.
What do Brazilians call Brazil nuts?
What do Germans call German measles?
What do the English call English muffins?
Anything along these lines…
[/QUOTE]
Brazil nuts: Castanhas-do-Para (‘Chestnuts from Para [a state of Brazil]’)
German measles: Rubella
English muffins: Muffins, with context making it clear what type of muffin is being referred to
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### Author:  [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/4 "2007-06-01T04:19:06Z")
French fries, Danishes, Chinese checkers, Italian dressing, Belgian waffles, and Chinese chicken salad come to mind.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/5 "2007-06-01T04:20:20Z")
[QUOTE=astorian]
What do Brazilians call Brazil nuts?
[/quote]
\*Castanhas, \*literally “chestnuts.”
> [@](#):
>
> What do the English call English muffins?
The closest equivalent would be “scones.”
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### Author:  [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/6 "2007-06-01T04:23:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> What do the English call English muffins?
I always thought that crumpets were the English version of an English muffin.
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### Author:  [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/7 "2007-06-01T04:23:48Z")
Danish people call Danishes _wienerbrød_–Vienna bread.
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/8 "2007-06-01T04:32:12Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri]
The closest equivalent would be “scones.”
[/QUOTE]
> [@LVgeogeek](#):
>
> I always thought that crumpets were the English version of an English muffin.
Scones, crumpets and muffins are three entirely different things.
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### Author:  [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/9 "2007-06-01T04:32:53Z")
[QUOTE=astorian]
What do Germans call German measles?
[/QUOTE]
Röteln
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### Author:  [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/10 "2007-06-01T04:33:09Z")
Black Forest ham in Germany
Swiss cheese in Switzerland
Italian sausage in Italy
Vienna schnitzel in Austria
Cornish hens in…Corn…utopia?
La vise anglais in England?
(is Texas Toast just “toast” in Texas?)
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/11 "2007-06-01T04:55:36Z")
Are french fries frites? they are in the French bistros in D.C.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Rosewater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Rosewater)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/12 "2007-06-01T05:13:15Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle]
Swiss cheese in Switzerland
[/quote]
IME, cheese in Switzerland is named after the town from which it comes, as with Emmenthaler (the most common) and Gruyere.
[QUOTE=fishbicycle]
Vienna schnitzel in Austria
[/QUOTE]
I am pretty sure I remember seeing Wiener schnitzel on several menus in Vienna. (Wien being the German spelling of Vienna)
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/13 "2007-06-01T05:31:29Z")
[crumpets](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumpet) look like English muffins…
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/14 "2007-06-01T05:52:01Z")
On the flip side, is there anything anywhere else in the world called an “American” XXX?
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### Author:  [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/15 "2007-06-01T06:01:30Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse]
[crumpets](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumpet) look like English muffins…
[/QUOTE]
You might unwittingly be opening a rather large can of worms here. This topic came up several years ago on the SDMB (I’ll try and find a link), and what I thought was a simple question resulted in an extremely lengthy and confused thread.
For me, crumpets and English muffins are very different. They fulfill a similar role (ie. both go in your toaster and have similar spreads added), but a crumpet is a partially fried thing (toasting completes the cooking process) which is very doughy and inedible in the state you buy it in - and the additives are spread on top, and English muffins are baked things which are also toasted by the purchaser, and they are split open before toppings are added (or eaten closed with a filling sometimes).
[QUOTE=Rigamarole]
On the flip side, is there anything anywhere else in the world called an “American” XXX?
[/QUOTE]
I’ve seen “American pancakes” advertised here. These are the thicker ones we more normally call “flapjacks”. “Pancake” here usually refers to the French “crepe” style.
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### Author:  [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/16 "2007-06-01T06:18:10Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog]
You might unwittingly be opening a rather large can of worms here. This topic came up several years ago on the SDMB (I’ll try and find a link), and what I thought was a simple question resulted in an extremely lengthy and confused thread.
[/quote]
There was one in the last few months. English muffins, crumpets, and scones are indeed three very different things. A scone is closest to an American ‘biscuit’, an English muffin isn’t muffiny at all but quite bready and dry where a crumpet is - hmm, hard to describe - kinda spongy I guess, with large holes in it. I’ve had all three (well, four, if you count American biscuits) and they are absolutely not the same thing.
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### Author:  [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/17 "2007-06-01T06:26:57Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle]
(is Texas Toast just “toast” in Texas?)
[/QUOTE]
Nope. We call it Texas toast here, too. “Toast” is regular bread. Texas toast is thicker.
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### Author:  [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/18 "2007-06-01T07:04:57Z")
Scones…dryish sometimes with currants in. Can be split or left whole. If split both parts are buttered and jam added. If whole you can pour syrup and/or cream over them …enjoy.
Crumpets…Soft and doughy. Eaten toasted with butter and any savoury topping but usually cheese.
Muffins…Much like a barmcake or burger bun. Best ones are Warburtons oven bottom which are slightly burned. Usually split and toasted but can be just split and a filling added.
AMERICAN Muffins…Similar to a cupcake but having blueberry/anyberry filling. Very tasty and extremely fattening
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/19 "2007-06-01T07:44:36Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia]
Are french fries frites? they are in the French bistros in D.C.
[/QUOTE]
Yes, or _pommes frittes_ if they felt like using more ink. Frit(te) means fried; potatoes are pommes (de terre), “apples from the ground”.
Hereabouts I’ve seen french toast called _croque monsieur_, in delis that were both in the CH (German-speaking) and F sides of the border. Or at least, it’s something very much like what I had the only time I had french toast in the US.
Isn’t _pain perdu_ regular toast made with old bread? Yesterday’s bread… that’s why it’s “lost” or “wasted”, because if you don’t toast it it’s quite inedible.
Spanish omelette is _tortilla juliana_, but _tortilla española_ is potato omelette. _Juliana_ is chopped-up (green) veggies.
_Filete ruso_ (russian steak) is a hamburger; we also call it hamburguesa. I’ve heard WAGs about the first name coming from being red and white (like Russia at the time of the revolution and like _ensaladilla rusa_) or from someone having heard of steak tartar but having problems with the notion of eating it raw. Dunnow what’s _ensaladilla rusa_ called in English, usually I’ve seen similar things without mayo or _all-i-oli_ and just called “side veggies.”
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2007, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-call-french-toast-in-france-similar-questions/406300/20 "2007-06-01T08:02:35Z")
[QUOTE=chowder]
Scones…dryish sometimes with currants in. Can be split or left whole. If split both parts are buttered and jam added. If whole you can pour syrup and/or cream over them …enjoy.
Crumpets…Soft and doughy. Eaten toasted with butter and any savoury topping but usually cheese.
Muffins…Much like a barmcake or burger bun. Best ones are Warburtons oven bottom which are slightly burned. Usually split and toasted but can be just split and a filling added.
AMERICAN Muffins…Similar to a cupcake but having blueberry/anyberry filling. Very tasty and extremely fattening
[/QUOTE]
Quite correct. I can’t believe how often the identity or composition of these products causes confusion.
Just to add: plain scones are allegedly somewhat similar to American biscuits (which I _still_ haven’t tried yet), also:
Pikelets are like flattish crumpets. I’d describe both as almost ‘rubbery’ in texture, when uncooked.
Scotch Pancakes are… well… small, thickish pancakes with quite a cakey sort of texture
Drop Scones are quite variable and might be anywhere between pikelets, scotch pancakes and thin scones (cooked on a hotplate, not in an oven)
Girdles Scones may be just another name for Drop Scones, or may be a different thing, depending on where you are, but they inhabit the same range of variability as Drop Scones.
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