Échaudé a French term whose basic meaning is ‘scalded’ but which is also the name for a kind of unleavened bread flavoured with anis, found mainly in the south-west, made by cooking the dough twice, first by scalding it and then by baking it. It takes various forms. Savoyard bakers, for example, produce rioutes; these unusual items of pâtisserie are very hard and dry, also flavoured with anis, shaped in a ring so that they can be carried on a stock or hung on a string. They are dunked in red wine or hot breakfast drinks before being eaten. In the delicious pre-revolutionary novel Félicia by André de Nerciat, an operatic Italian set on vengeance pretties up her drink of poisoned chocolate with échaudés from the baker.
